Oct 73 min read

September 2024 Art Spotlight: Homecoming Banners

By Niya Miller

With all the homecoming festivities going on right now, it’s easy to overlook some of the quieter celebrations. This year, members of the Art Club and National Art Honors Society dedicated many hours to making homecoming banners. These banners were auctioned off as a fundraiser for our art program here at Central Dewitt. 20 artists across all grade levels made some amazing banners for our community. Let’s take a closer look at 4 specific ones, how their ideas came together, and art teacher Ms. Garrity’s perspective on these projects.

Audri Guldner and Jayden Springsteen

One banner in the spotlight was made by senior Ana Henningsen and junior Amelia Griffin.

“Our poster was already an uncompleted one from previous years so all we had to do was find a Clipart image online and sketch them out. Then we just painted them in, and found an ice cube mold and stamped in the stars.”

Ana and Amelia wanted to represent more than just one week of sports in their banner, so they tried to include as many fall sports as they could.

Ana Henningsen and Amelia Griffin

Another banner in the spotlight was made by junior Camila Reyna.

“I feel like every time someone does a homecoming banner, they do sports. But I’m not in any sports… so I was like ‘What am I involved in?’ And I’m involved in band, so I decided to make a homecoming banner about band because we march the full show for the first time at the game."

Camila Reyna

The third piece in the spotlight was a banner made by Emma Pillers, a senior.

“One of my friends last year had originally started the poster and I wanted to add more to it to make it sort of a collab and also to add more color,” Emma said. She elaborated on this idea by adding the dots to fill in empty spaces and to make it her own.

Emma Pillers

The final banner in the spotlight was made by Megan Daniels, a sophomore. Megan made her banner by improving upon one from a previous year. She added the paw in the middle and cleaned up the graffiti letters. “The finished project gets right to the point,” Megan said.

Megan Daniels

Art teacher Mrs. Garrity speaks on getting to assist in this fun tradition by saying “I think it’s just a fun way to celebrate homecoming. Homecoming’s way more fun when you get involved in things.” The tradition of homecoming banners began years ago when students would paint the windows of businesses in town for homecoming week. The tradition eventually became impractical for the art club to continue, so they did what they did best and came up with an even more creative way to show their Saber spirit. The banners students paint on are misprints of banners that were supposed to be hung around town but couldn’t be used for various reasons. So instead of worrying about paint dripping down the sides of building walls, now students and business owners can save the art for years.

Seniors Sam Arnold, Dexter Westbay, and Ellie Lake display their banner.

Homecoming banners don’t just benefit our community, they also directly benefit the art club and national art honors society here at school. The money earned from these banners goes to buy better art supplies for any art students at Central Dewitt. These banners are also a way for students who can’t take any art classes or are on the fence about taking them to try something new. “It’s a way for students who have a lot of artistic ability to show their Saber pride, and even if they're not the most school-spirited person, it still can be a creative outlet for them and a way for them to show off their work in the community,” Garrity said.

Junior Niya Miller

All art club activities are open to anyone. People are encouraged to join because “Art club is a way for people who are interested in the visual arts to try something new”, as Ms. Garrity put it. It’s a way for someone to try something they may have never tried or had time for. It’s a way for students to express their creativity in ways that they may not have otherwise.

Senior Lauren Burmeister

In total, 20 Saber artists spent lots of time and effort working on these projects. This includes seniors Lauren Burmeister, Hannah Moore, Olivia Ortner, Dexter Westbay, Sam Arnold, and Ellie Lake; juniors Ryder Peel, Zoey Fuglsang, Megan Schlydetsky, Brynlee Shimp, Kalli Barber, and Niya Miller; sophomores Audri Guldner and Jayden Springsteen, and freshmen Asher Haedike and Ella Taylor. All banners are shown in this article.