The San Marin Student Equity Team, SMET, is hosting a virtual Art Auction fundraiser on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. The student run auction will take place on Zoom in a panel format with an MC leading and directing the event. SMET has been working to come up with solutions and plans that will educate the community about racism and teach the staff members how to integrate anti-racist education into the curriculum. This auction is centered around the idea of Black Lives Matter and social justice as a whole with the hopes of promoting the groups’ values and raising support for black, indigenous, and people of color, BIPOC students. Student artists donated pieces in an attempt to raise awareness and inspire the community to continue the fight towards equality.
Maxine Walas, a senior at San Marin, donated to the art auction, and reflected on the decisions she made surrounding her piece.
“The vast color scheme of my piece represents the equal inclusion of all ethnicities,” Walas said. “The activism of high school students in this event will hopefully inspire those of a similar age range and older, to be involved in social justice movements to better the future.”
Senior Gracie Enslin also donated an art piece centered around social justice, and Black Lives Matter. She chose to focus her work on Breonna Taylor in order to shed light on serious racial issues within our society.
“Breonna is a symbol of the BLM movement, but also a symbol of the cracks in America’s foundation,” Enslin said. “I hope someone in this community appreciates and respects the piece the way we should appreciate and respect all black lives.”
The auction is a way for the students to display their artwork, and it gives community members a chance to donate to a fundraiser that they are passionate about. Images of the artist’s work, along with bios from the artists, can be found on the San Marin Equity website, https://ambell426.wixsite.com/equity.
The San Marin Equity Team is using fundraisers like the Art Auction to raise awareness and money for the group. This money will then be directed towards achieving some of their larger goals centered around equality and justice for BIPOC students in the school and community.
An art piece done by Maxine Walas portrays a vast color scheme in order to represent the equal inclusion of all ethnicities. This piece will be auctioned off at SMET’s Art Auction.
