In 1929, FUHS senior Opal Jenkins died of pneumonia just months before graduating. The yearbook staff dedicated a page to her memory and promised to never forget her.

Even today, FUHS immortalizes Jenkins by hosting an art gallery show during Halloween. Students in all visual arts programs are eligible to submit a photo, painting, or sculpture that captures the deathly and chilling atmosphere of Halloween.

Here are some of the fantastic artwork showcased at this year’s Opal Jenkins gallery show. All photos were taken by Tara Patton.

Little Sisters

Senior AP Photo student Sandra Ochoa has been interested in photography since she entering high school.

Ochoa was inspired by fear for her submission and decided to bring “spine-chilling” to a whole new level.

“I was trying to convey an element of fear in your own home, because I know when I’m all by myself in my house, I always check all the rooms just to make sure nobody is there. I wanted to capture that creepy, uneasy feeling.” Ochoa said.

“The bathroom should be the most private place in your house, so when you go in there you don’t expect to have that privacy invaded. It’s not all private, because you never know who’s watching.”

Opal

Junior Allison Park has always enjoyed art, drawing and painting all her life. 

“I love it when you get in the zone and what your doing relates to you emotionally,” Park said. “I get captivated in that moment, putting all these different styles, designs and techniques together into one picture.”

Although Park enjoyed working on her piece for the show she creating “happy” art.   

“I don’t like doing anything for halloween or horror,” said Park. “I enjoy drawing and painting based off of things I find beautiful and serene and things that when other people look at it they will say wow that’s beautiful, I can relate to it.”

Looking

Junior Isabella Schwimmer has been interested in the arts at a young age

“I have always liked to draw and my mom is really good at painting and drawing, so I guess I took after her,” Schwimmer said.

However once she reached high school, Schwimmer drifted away from drawing and painting and took up photography instead. Now in advanced photography, she has come to love the art of taking photos to express herself..

“I was trying to think of a universal fear that many people can relate to. I think stalking or the feeling of being watched is really creepy,” Schwimmer said. “I feel like other people can relate, because you never know when someone’s watching you.”

Locked In

Sophomore Nicole Ugalde has been interested in photography her whole life.

“I remember when I was little, I would steal my mom’s Polaroid camera and take pictures of everything,” Ugalde said. “I love how a photo can be completely your own, how you can make it whatever you want.”

Wanting to represent a dark and serious mood, Ugalde chose to showcase child abuse and neglect for her submission.

“Child abuse hits close to home for me,” said Ugalde. “My aunt is a teacher and every time she tells me stories about seeing a little kid come into class with a bruise, it hurts me.”

Wanting to add personal and raw emotion to her piece, Ugalde used her younger cousin as the subject of her photo. “I felt gravitated to have her as my subject, I can’t imagine anyone laying a hand on or hurting her,” Ugalde said.

Ugalde used a mix of olive oil, cocoa powder, and red food coloring to get the dark and thick feel for the fake blood used to write the words ‘Help Me’ across a shower door.

“I used a shower because I needed something that would make it very clear I was portraying child abuse and neglect,”  Ugalde said. “When it comes to little kids, you typically don’t believe what they say, since they say such crazy things, and in a shower you can get locked in and enclosed and that’s how I think little kids feel sometimes — like they have no voice.”

Ruptured

Junior Leonardo Ramirez grew up in a visual arts oriented family and was always surrounded by creativity.

“I’ve been interested in photography since I was about 10 years old,” Ramirez said. “I love the feeling of being able to tell a story by just taking photos.”

Ramirez entitled his submission “Ruptured” and used photoshop to give a broken finish to a picture of his subject. “She has really beautiful eyes,” said Ramirez. “I wanted to use them as a way to show the inside of a person from the outside.”

He wanted to comment on the lack of empathy some people have and its effect on others.

“In general, people don’t take into consideration others before themselves. So in many cases people don’t take the time to get into their shoes,” Ramirez said. “Sometimes the people who seem the happiest are the most broken on the inside.”  

Static

Senior AP photo student Cristopher Stokman only discovered his love for taking photos recently.

“It wasn’t something I had really known, but once I had gotten positive feedback about my photography, I decided that it would be a good fit for me.” Stokman said.

He particularly enjoys the collaborative aspects of photo class.

“I love bouncing ideas off of other people, and seeing other artists and their products,” Stokman said. “Especially when everyone has the same assignment, but come up with different things.”

For his submission, he wanted to avoid the stereotypical form of scary. “I wanted to go with something a little more creepy,” Stokman said. “Not necessarily something people would look at and go, ‘oh, that’s scary,’ but something weird.”