In My Room: Student Reflections on the Time of Isolation

On display April 6 – May 24, 2023
Exhibition Reception: Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 5 to 8 pm
Exhibition Discussion: Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 6 pm

Nevada Humanities Program Gallery
1017 South 1st Street, #190
Las Vegas, NV 89101

In My Room: Student Reflections on the Time of Isolation features original artworks created by Las Vegas students from K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School and Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts. The exhibition provides a glimpse into the isolation the students experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. In My Room is curated by educator and artist Sean Jones, K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School, working with art educator David Heide from Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts.

The exhibition will be open to the public for viewing by appointment only Tuesdays through Thursdays from 1 to 4 pm and until 9 pm the first Friday of the month for First Friday events at the Nevada Humanities Program Gallery, 1017 South 1st Street, #190 in Las Vegas. In-person viewing will close on May 24, 2023. Contact Bobbie Ann Howell at bahowell@nevadahumanities.org or 702-800-4670 to make a viewing appointment. Learn more about the Nevada Humanities Exhibition Series.

Gallery East Wall

Layla Mahler

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Gigi
Graphite on Paper
Artist Statement

Isabella Wetzel

Del Sol Academy of the Preforming Arts
Mentally Ill 
Mixed Media on Paper

Crazy on the inside, calm on the outside.

Uziel Mejia

Grade 7 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Longer Times
Mixed Media on Paper 

I made sure to include objects that most people had in my artwork, like posters, and alarm clocks. Objects most people have, and they can see in the artwork and think what they have and what they felt about it.

Genesis Rocha Benitez

Grade 7 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Sisterly Love
Colored Pencil on Paper

A person who really helped me get through the 2019 shutdown was my older sister. She really helped me by talking to me with I was bored, and she also comforted me when I would feel sad or down. That is why I drew my older sister.

Yaseline Guiterrez

Grade 7 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Blocking Out the Noise
Colored Pencil on Paper
Artist Statement

Mr. David Heide, Art Teacher

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
In My (Class)room a.k.a Technology No
Mixed Media on Paper
Artist Statement

Mr. Sean C. Jones, Art Teacher

K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Brooklyn 1 and Brooklyn 2
Pen and Ink on Paper
Artist Statement

Chris Reyes

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Unfinished/Procrastination
Mixed Media on Canvas Board

The work my look undone but that is the point. Everyone during the pandemic suffered from procrastination. A lot suffered due to the fact we were trapped at home and could not do anything.

Diego Flores

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
In My Room
Mixed Media on Paper

The wall and the floor is a computer because that year we did online learning. Honestly, online learning wasn’t that bad. I didn’t have any problems. I also got a dog during quarantine.

Isaac Ramirez Beltran

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Covid City
Mixed Media on Paper

During the pandemic I had nothing to do, and I was bored. I thought of the city outside.

Gallery South Wall

Ferdousa Yonas

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Vortex
Mixed Media on Canvas Board

The artwork is how I view the pandemic. It represents how it felt and if I was being sucked into the internet with no way out. 

Broday Rivas

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Football
Colored Pencil on Paper

During the pandemic, I started planning football and I liked it a lot. So now, 3 years later, I love football and I am playing it 5 times a week. So I have drawn a picture of me catching a football on a football field.

Omar Rodriguez

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Baking
Pen and Ink on Paper

During the pandemic, my mother began to bake all the time. She was always making bread.

Grettle Tamayo

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
My Melancholy
Mixed Media on Paper

I started struggling with depression during online learning. The water is supposed to represent the room being overflowed by my emotions.  The dark cloud is supposed to give the artwork a gloomy feeling. The hand reaching out represents me wanting to reach out for help. Lastly, I couldn’t celebrate my birthday because I got covid a few days before, so I added a birthday cake to my work.

Victoria Castellanos

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Isolation
Mixed Media on Paper

During quarantine, I was isolated, and I felt stranded which is represented by the asylum walls and water. I also felt watched over by myself representing the girl and bed.

Sophia Arroyo-Arredondo

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Under the Weather
Mixed Media

This artwork represents how low I felt during the pandemic. Most of it I can’t remember, but I felt a lot of anxiety and I felt overwhelmed with school to the point I didn’t want to work.

Pho Newberry

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Cat
Mixed Media on Paper

I created this painting to resemble when I was using my cats to help me cope with the pandemic. My furry felines influenced my life heavily. I often find myself meowing in their remembrance, even if it’s just subconsciously. I would always go to my furry babies when times were tough, and they would get me through the hard stuff.

Gallery West Wall

Jocelyn Miranda-Ojeda

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Holidays
Watercolor on Paper

Something that I looked forward to during this time was the holidays. They weren’t the same as before, but they were something to look forward to once in a while. The holidays were a time to forget everything around us that was happening and enjoy ourselves with the family we lived with. Some of these holidays that were, Christmas, Halloween, Valentines Day, Easter, Dia de los Muertos, along with many others.

Casper Vargas

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Watching Every Move
Mixed Media on Paper

Nothing felt normal. Everything was in a way wrong. At least it felt wrong. One thing was for sure though, I was being watched. Monitored. Every action was watched.

Celina Calvillo

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Kitchen Table
Marker on Paper

It was when I go to the kitchen and sit at the table and eat while I was in class.

Quetzali Lopez-Dorantes

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Dance, Cry, and Enjoy
Mixed Media on Paper
Artist Statement

Steven Martinez-Martinez

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Cage
Graphite, Colored Pencil on Paper
Artist Statement

Chasity Freeman

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
In My Room
Mixed Media on Paper

I put cloudy weather and the ocean out the window because it felt lie we weren’t really allowed to go outside during quarantine.

Kasandra Vasquez

Del Sol Academy of the Preforming Arts
Lost Sight
Mixed Media on Paper

Craving affections and attention would leave you reaching something similar to it. Losing something wasn’t the problem, it was desperation.

Kailani Diverson

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
3rd Dimension
Mixed Media on Paper

This represents my life during quarantine because when covid first hit, I lived in Oregon. There were lots of trees and cattle around our property. I was also introduced to more technology, and time went very slowly.

Keven Mendoza

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Calm Room In A Chaotic World
Mixed Media on Paper
Artist Statement

Serenity Cruz

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Moments Before Disaster
Watercolor on Paper

During the pandemic shutdown, my bangs were getting long, so I tried to cut them myself. They turned out terrible. I missed my hairdresser.

Justin Manuel Martinez Rico

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Nerd
Graphite, Colored Pencil on Paper
Artist Statement

Anisha Garriga

Grade 7 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Happy Kitchen
Graphite on Paper

I made this because this is what got through the pandemic. Cooking is what I did to pass the time. It helped me be distracted. It made me happy and taught me different stuff to make and cook.

Gena Guzman

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Small Mind Big Thoughts
Acrylic on Canvas

I was always in my room and very much in my thoughts yet organized. Outside always felt like a different dimension compared to my room.

Sophia Ochoa

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Nightmare In My Room
Mixed Media on Paper

During 2020 I felt paranoid, bad feelings, sad feelings, my anxiety worse. Although times were tough, I always try to focus on positive things.

Yoselyn Ballesteros Lozoya

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Danger At Every Corner
Mixed Media on Paper

My art piece is about my view of 2020. I felt very trapped in my room. I spent most of my time specifically right next to my Chromebook, afraid to leave because of how dangerous it felt. I kept my curtains closed because I was afraid to even look outside.

Angelica Franco

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Pandemic Confusion
Mixed Media on Paper

My artwork represents what the pandemic was for in in terms of school showing absolute confusion around me and in by bed only frustrations of school.

Chaya Bejarano

Grade 7 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Headphones
Colored Pencil on Paper
Artist Statement

Gallery North Wall

Jorge Gomez

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Light and Dark
Mixed Media on Paper

Over quarantine my eyes opened up to so many things and made me realize so much. Therefore, I drew one dark side and a light side to show the different perspectives.

Camara Ray

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Delusional
Mixed Media on Paper

Being watched in a room doing your work in a delusional room that there is no escape from.

Michael Bangug

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Arrhythmia
Mixed Media on Paper
Artist Statement

Oyuky Ocegueda Gonzalez

Grade 7 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
The Walk of Friendship
Colored Pencil on Paper
Artist Statement

Elena Hernandez-Flores

Grade 7 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
The Line Up
Mixed Media on Paper
Artist Statement

Joshua Voida

Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts
Thinking Of My Own Cinematic Universe While In Quarantine
Mixed Media on Paper

The person with his thoughts to himself and creates his own cinematic universes about maybe one or two. It is also taking place in his room while in quarantine.

Jiselle Nieto

Grade 8 - K.O. Knudson Academy of Art Middle School
Family Friend
Watercolor on Paper

During the pandemic I had to take care of a close family friend that was struggling. He made my life busy which made it, so I didn’t have to think about anything that was going on in the world. We spent the rest of his life with him before he passed. He is the one that got me through the pandemic and the person that I drew.