Perpich Arts High School Studio Arts Department Presents: “Rumination” Exhibition
September 25, 2026
Perpich Studio Arts students opened their first exhibition of the 2026-2027 school year with “Rumination,” an exhibition featuring summer work by Visual Arts and Media Arts students alongside site-specific Dance performances. The exhibition opened September 24 and brought students, families, friends, staff, and alumni together to celebrate the artists and their work. The gallery pieces are showing in the Perpich galleries through October 29, 2026.
The exhibition invited students to explore themes of inner and outer self portraiture, the future, journaling, and memory through painting, printmaking, cinema, animation, digital work, 2D and 3D art, and more. Students also wrote their own artist statements and helped prepare their work for exhibition.
In the student exhibition statement, Robin Anne Gilbert (Visual Arts 2027) reflected on the vulnerability of putting creative work on display: “Who we are is right in front of everyone in our artwork. We feast upon the ideas of each other. Join us and indulge in this delicacy of art.”
Kathryn D’Elia, Visual Arts Instructor and Studio Arts Chair, said the first exhibition of the year helps establish what it means to be an artist at Perpich. “Our first exhibition, showcasing summer projects, sets the tone for the year,” D’Elia said. “It gives our students and families an idea of what it means to show work at Perpich, and it becomes the base that we compare to as our shows get better and better.”
The opening also brought together multiple arts areas. Dance students presented student-choreographed performances titled “Testimony” exploring inner and outer self portraiture, creating another way to explore the themes of the exhibition.
“I love opportunities for different arts areas to exhibit work together,” D’Elia said. “The student-choreographed dance performance exploring inner and outer self portraiture was a beautiful addition to our studio art gallery opening, exploring how themes can transcend mediums.”
For Principal Rebecca Bullen, the evening was a celebration of the creativity, vulnerability, and hard work that students bring to their art. “I saw students sharing and celebrating their art form and stories with friends, family, and staff,” Bullen said. “I observed laughter, thoughtful conversation, and many moments of people pausing to take in the artist’s statements and the power of vulnerability, risk taking, and hard work.”
The evening also featured “Framed,” an alumni exhibition in the Tony Basta Gallery featuring artwork left over the years and rediscovered for a new generation of viewers. For Bullen, the alumni exhibition added another layer to an evening centered on connection and community. “One of my many highlights was reconnecting with alumni,” Bullen said. “It feels good to end the week filled with laughter, reflection, and reconnections.”
Together, “Rumination”, “Testimony”, and “Framed” offered a look at Perpich across generations, connecting the work of current students with the creative history of the Arts High School community.
As Bullen reflected, “I love how the Perpich community shows up, connecting through the arts, storytelling, history, and all the beauty that Perpich is. That WE create together, intergenerationally, with hope for the future led by our thoughtful and creative thinkers.”
Congratulations to all the students, and their instructors, on a wonderful event!
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