A Passion for Art and Change Anonymous

The sun set, while a blend of indigos, rich plums, and the deepest blacks carpeted the sky; headlights lit up the parking lot as crowds entered what is normally a Jewish temple, but for the night was the Belmont High School Art Show. Stomach churning, knees wobbling, I awaited the highly anticipated guests. A band played soft rock melodies and my peers—artists—roamed the exhibition room wearing stickers that said "ask me about my art." The sound of footsteps became more pronounced and in a sudden sweep couples, teachers and families arrived; the anxious tension seething through the room settled.

Overwhelmed with joy, I escorted our guests through the gallery, explaining the meaning behind our show. "No," I said, "we actually didn't get any help from the school with this. It's completely student-run." "Why would you go through the trouble of putting on an exhibition in a week?" They inquired. My response? "Well the answer is actually simple. We need to prove who we are and why we make art."

"We," Belmont High's AP Art class are a community. Our home is the art room: a place plastered with drawings, with ceilings covered in inside jokes, and innumerable amounts of three by four foot paintings. Yet in March of 2015 this space,...