The first Spotlight Art Show at the David Saperstein Middle School took place on Tuesday, October 19. This inaugural event marked the beginning of a new level of prestige for art at the middle school.

For about ten years, the high school has featured a spotlight artist once a month to display their work for the school to view and enjoy. Throughout the years, many incredibly talented upperclassmen have presented impeccable pieces of artwork that have created the strong reputation for the upper school’s art program.

The art program at the middle school is divided into a 10 day rotation of classes called exploratory classes.

“It is a great opportunity for the more serious art student, who has a passion for the visual arts and the exploratory classes, to add excitement to the campus through their artwork. It gives the artist a chance to shine, like an athlete,” Dori Kulwin, Visual Arts Department chair, said. “We are eager to continue having spotlight artists, who hopefully show hard work out of class, as well as in class, every six weeks.”

Danielle Moalem ’15 was the first student who presented her artwork in the middle school Beit Midrash. Moalem had many different pieces of art on display, ranging from oil paintings to charcoal portraits. When her teacher, Peter Walker, middle school Visual Arts teacher, was asked to keep his eye open for a spotlight, the first person that came to mind was Moalem.  According to Walker, her enthusiasm to learn and her advanced skill set her apart from her other classmates and made her the perfect candidate for the middle’s school’s first spotlight artist.

“One of the wonderful parts about teaching Danielle is that a lot of other students who are just starting art will ask me if they can do something, and I’ll say, ‘take it back a notch,’’ Walker said. “But when Danielle asks me to do something I say, do it! What are you waiting for?”