For many young artists, publicly displaying their work is something that cannot be achieved until adulthood. The AP Studio class, however, will be promoting their work in their first public gallery of the school year this week. The gallery is called “Perception: An Exhibition in Augmented Reality” and it will be hosted at the Lillian Yahn Gallery in O’Fallon.

What makes this gallery stand out from other high school art shows is stated in its title: it utilizes augmented reality. Through an app called Aurasma, the students create a “trigger,” usually a Sharpie drawing, and take a picture of it. They create an “overlay,” of their piece, and attach it to the trigger. Using the camera on the app, the viewer then points their camera at the trigger, which is framed and hung up, and on their phone, the overlay of the students’ work will appear over the trigger.

When asked why the choice was made to use this media rather than going a traditional route, Judy Switzer, the AP Studio teacher who is organizing and hosting the exhibition, says it was in order to modernize the gallery and connect artwork with modern technology.

“I think that it’s important to make sure myself and my students are engaged in technology,” Mrs. Switzer said. “I think that it adds an extra dimension to the experience and looking at artwork.” 

In addition to being incredibly useful to the students, the augmented reality gallery is meant to be beneficial to the local community as well. Cameryn Miller, senior, hopes it will keep traditional art relevant.

“I hope that people can realize how technology and art are coming together more,” Miller said. “It [modern artwork] can become more involved in people’s lives and stay current.”

For many students, this is their first opportunity to publicly display their work. Senior Lauren Thompson is looking forward to this as a chance to improve as an artist and gain real world experience.

“I want to put the better stuff out,” Thompson said. “I’ll work harder on [my art] if I want to put them in exhibits.”

The gallery will take place at the Lillian Yahn Gallery in O’Fallon, and the street address is 7443 Village Center Drive. It will run from Thursday, November 2nd, to Friday, November 17th.