Act of Vandalism Becomes Students' Pride at High School

Close to 50 Summit High School art students gathered in the school’s library on Monday afternoon for the unique opportunity to meet with the artist of a sculpture that was recently installed on the school grounds. It was a celebratory afternoon, complete with refreshments, a group viewing of the artwork, and a question and answer session with the sculptor.

Outside observers of the upbeat scene would never have suspected the series of shocking, surprising and inspiring events that led up to Monday’s informal art reception.

One month ago on Sunday, March 13, Summit High School was thrilled to welcome a new outdoor sculpture to its landscape. The piece, created by Hawthorne, N.J. artist Daniel Bertelli and titled The Wedding Party, consists of eight bird-like figures created from steel and fiberglass, and painted in graduated shades of salmon, aqua, blue, and violet.

The Wedding Party is one of many installations that have shown up on the school grounds over the past four or five years. The arts initiative arose from a partnership between Summit High School and Michael Tcheyan, Chairperson of the Mayor’s Partnership for the Arts. It should be noted that the high school installations are independent of the city’s public arts program.

Thanks to SHS Assistant Principal Anthony Akey and a grant he received from the Summit Education Foundation, The Wedding Party is the second sculptural  installation at the high school since the fall. But no more than 24 hours would pass before it was discovered that the colorful new artwork was attacked by vandals who used black spray paint to deface the figures.

“When I first saw [the vandalism], I was sick to my stomach,” said Assistant Principal Akey who reported that the high school students reacted to the news with “universal disappointment.”

Luca Guadagno, a Summit High School sophomore said of the incident, “I think it’s really upsetting because we’re privileged enough to have a sculpture out here. I think it wasn’t really fair.”

Akey quickly took action in order to identify the perpetrator(s) by first making a schoolwide announcement asking for a confession and then temporarily suspending students' open lunch privileges until further notice.

“One thing I’ve learned in this business is there are no secrets. Kids tell one another what happened and why,” said Akey of his belief that someone would come forward with information about the incident.

After having spoken with many of his students, the Assistant Principal said he came to believe that the spray-painting was a “random act of vandalism” and that it was not performed by a Summit resident. Akey noted that similar acts had taken place on the same night in neighboring towns.

Artist Bertelli, a graduate student at Montclair State University and art teacher at Indian Hills High School in Oakland, said on hearing the news of the vandalism, “I was disappointed because it didn’t really last more than 24 hours…The kids coming to school that [Monday] didn’t even see it.”

Bertelli said his second reaction was, “Well, what can you do? Because you have no control over the public. That’s what you risk when you put your artwork out there.”

While many artists in Bertelli’s position would have permanently removed the sculpture from the place where it had been violated, Bertelli, in the true character of an art teacher, had a more constructive idea. He proposed that the Summit High School students be the ones to repaint The Wedding Party.

“I wanted to just turn the negative into a positive and have the kids have a little bit of a connection to it so that when it goes back out there, maybe they’ll have some kind of pride in protecting it,” said the artist.

Over the next weeks, Tom Maliszewski, SHS Supervisor of Fine, Performing and Practical Arts, along with the high school art staff, oversaw a group of students who volunteered their time to right the wrong. The team of eight teens set to work mixing colors and repainting the friendly figures.

“We just tried to stay as true to the borders and shapes as possible,” said Hope Trisler, a sophomore at the high school.

Cici Flanagan, an Art II student, added, “I think that was the hardest thing—trying not to mess it up or get the colors confused.”

Sarah Runo, also an Art II student, and Flanagan both said that it was cool that they were able to help an artist.

A newly painted The Wedding Party was displayed proudly in the Summit High School gallery on Monday afternoon and students who attended the special artist meet and greet reception were able to interact with the artwork before it was returned to the front lawn.

It was also an opportunity for the original artist to see his work restored.

“They matched the pattern and painted it better than it was [when it was] new,” said Bertelli. “I can’t thank them enough."

The artist thanked the students throughout the afternoon for their hard work and accuracy in repairing the painted portion of the artwork. The student team also received applause from their peers and teachers for their efforts.

Following the observance of the new pieces, students had the unique opportunity to speak with the artist personally and ask questions about his career, his thoughts on public art, and his inspiration behind The Wedding Party.

Bertelli willingly shared insightful information with the students such as the fact that The Wedding Party initially started out as an oversized game of Whack-A-Mole before the moles transformed into birds, and that its title just kind of came to him after lining up the pieces once he had completed the work.

“What I like about public art is that you don’t have to go to a museum to see it. It’s just out there and you like it [or] you don’t like it but it always creates a jumping off point for a conversation,” said Bertelli, who commended Summit’s support of the public arts.

As a result of the dedication of Summit High School and Bertelli’s ingenuity, what began as a seeming catastrophe ended in a victory through the arts.

But following such an incident, would the high school continue to display public works of art in the future?

“Absolutely!” said Akey enthusiastically. “I’m excited about it, and I’m very grateful for the support the SEF has given to this and pleased with the enthusiasm that the art students have in this.”

The Assistant Principal went on to say that he hopes the arts continue to grow in the school and that he would like to see a parent support group for the arts, just as there exists for the music program. Akey  said he hopes that someday current Summit High School students will be creating artwork to be displayed on the school grounds.

Bertelli concluded his discussion with the students on Monday by saying, “Hopefully, [The Wedding Party] will bring some color and fun into your ordinary school days.”

When asked what sophomore Flanagan would be thinking when she passed the newly painted sculptures outside her school on a regular basis, she said, “No one better vandalize it!”