Anonymous, provocative and meaningful art, sounds interesting, right? That’s what art teacher Antoinette Bailey thought when she decided what her first-period students’ next art project was going to be. 

Bailey said, “I happened to show them something that had to do with Guerilla art and they seemed really excited.” Bailey continued, “This really is students’ voices, letting them participate and really show the message and meaning of their own artwork.” 

The goal of this assignment was to allow the students to express what was on their minds, whether it was about the uniform policy, mental health, or even just to spread positivity. 

Walking around the school campus on Tuesday, Dec. 7, the schools’ bathrooms and hallways were filled with art from Baileys first-period students. 

One of the students who participated in spreading the messages through artwork around the school was Hannah Collison, a junior in Compass. “The art my group and I made was decorated post-it notes with short messages about positivity and/or empowerment,” Collison said. “But I’m sure the majority of students couldn’t care less,” Collison continued.

 The girls’ bathroom in the 400 building showed otherwise. Other students started to add their own post-it notes, which created a colorful explosion of positive and encouraging notes all over the bathroom mirror. 

“The thing I found most rewarding was seeing students not only receive the messages but actually respond and add to our ideas, expanding our project beyond just our first-period art class,” Collison said after finding out that other students added to their project. 

Both teachers and students around campus enjoyed the art, and students even shared it on social media.

 Angelina DePriest, a junior in Compass also contributed to the project, her group’s message with their art was how people often focus on small issues to avoid bigger issues, which they especially notice in schools.

“I think Millikan should continue to talk about these things because it helps capture the student body’s opinions on these issues in a creative and abstract way,” DePriest said. “When you fill the school with art based off the students’ feelings it can’t be ignored.” 

The art can therefore help students communicate their opinions and feelings anonymously and without being ignored . This was the initial point of the project, which both the students from Bailey’s art class and Bailey, wished to achieve, even with the short amount of time they had for the project.