Amidst organizing The Eastern Star Gallery’s show “Touch Museum 2.0” featuring work from visual artist Julie Weitz, the Oracle sat down with senior Sky Edenfield, who runs the Gallery Management and Design class this year.

Edenfield discussed the tasks she had to complete in order to open the show.

She explained that running the gallery program is similar to having a “full-time job at school.” For the first time, this year Edenfield created both the press release and poster.

Edenfield has participated in the gallery program since her sophomore year and has taken on more responsibility each year. She currently leads the program as an independent study class.

Edenfield’s passion for art is prominent in other aspects of her life. She often finds inspiration for the Eastern Star Gallery’s shows at various places outside of school.

“I go to museums and galleries whenever I can, and this helps me broaden my perspective on how I want to curate my own exhibitions,” she said.

Edenfield also enjoys music, and although she said she has not explored her music interests as much as she has for art, she “wants to bring in live music to one of [the] exhibitions this year.”

Organizing the gallery on top of being a full-time student requires extreme dedication and a large time commitment.

“Maybe having another co-director would have helped, but I enjoy this experience solo,” Edenfield said.

Because this “full-time job” counts as an independent study, Edenfield uses her elective period to plan and curate shows.

“It gives me more than enough time to put in the production with Mr. Attie’s help,” she said.

Visual arts teacher Chad Attie serves as Edenfield’s independent study advisor.

“[Running the gallery program] has been great for Sky because it’s a lot of responsibility. In the past, the class had a lot more girls, so the jobs were really spread out,” he said.

“The person organizing the gallery has to be incredibly focused to get everything done, and there is no falling back on anybody else,” he said.

He praised and admired Edenfield’s strong work ethic and commitment to the program.

“I like that she is fully responsible for everything getting done. There is no one else to blame but her, and it also gives her an incredible amount of experience to be able to think about every little element that has to go into putting a show-up,” Attie said.

Edenfield wants to pursue a similar program in college next year, noting that she is considering schools that are either “in an ‘art hub’ city or have a student run gallery on campus.”

“This experience has taught me how to do what I love, and it would only make sense to continue my passions in college,” she said.

Click the audio link below to hear Attie go more into depth about the program Edenfield runs.