Parish Art Students Spark the Imagination

Origami-themed immersive experience will take visitors under the sea

Parish Episcopal juniors Elliott Lewis, Marley Martinez, and Sahara Tran were eager to inspire the younger students who would experience their SPARK Art Pop-up exhibit but didn’t realize how much they’d learn about themselves in the process.

The trio, who were selected to participate in the second annual installment of the exhibit, set out to create an origami-themed underwater forest, merging land and water, reality and imagination. 

And when they came up with the perfect therianthrope — a “Merdeer,” half mermaid half deer — their creative juices started to flow.

“We didn’t realize how many variables we’d have to consider, including different hues, textures, lighting, and sound,” Sahara said. 

After several weekends spent at SPARK! Dallas, the colorful exhibition came together as an immersive experience that the artists think stretches the imagination into a fantasy land while showcasing their creativity through an area imagined, designed, and built in a single color and theme. 

“We included elements like origami fish suspended from the ceiling to give the visitor an enveloping experience,” Elliott explained. “I wanted the kids that come through to realize that art can be greater than a piece of paper, and as it comes alive it can have greater meaning than what first meets the eye.”

Marley, whose dad is an art teacher at Greenhill School, has grown up with art. 

“I wanted to create a room I would have been awestruck by when I was a kid,” she said, adding that her love of architecture played a big role in planning out the space.

Classmate Sahara also wanted the room to inspire wonderment. 

“At this point, my whole life is consumed in art, and I want people to feel like they are literally in another dimension, truly immersive,” she said.

Encouraged by their teacher, Beka Johnson’s account of reigniting her love of art long after a middle school art instructor had discouraged her pursuit of the medium as a career, the three high schoolers pledged to continue incorporating their passion in future endeavors.

“What I want my students to get out of this, is the pure joy of the process of creating with each other,” Johnson said. “I love watching them collaborate.”

The girls, who showed up on the weekends at 10 a.m. and often worked until 4 p.m., said the time flew when they were working on the project together. Each added to the bigger picture, constantly thinking out loud, and asking themselves, “Is this the right shade? Is this the right material?” Elliott said.

“SPARK! has taught me a lot more than how to expand my artistic talents. I really want to get into advertising and public relations and while we’re creating art, I’m also thinking about what might appeal to the visitor, what elements should we include to help make our exhibit stand out,” she said.

For Sahara, following the career path of family members had always been in the cards. She is now inspired to add another dimension to that path.

“Everyone in my family does medicine. But lately I’ve been doing a lot of chemistry, and I cannot fathom doing that full-time … let’s just say I dislike chem a lot but can do art for hours, so I’m hoping to find something that combines my brain and my artistic talents,” she said.

The high schoolers agreed that the project had already been worthwhile as they each experienced personal growth from their participation in it. 

“We are now really excited to share our journey into the imagination with budding young artists in the community,” Marley said.