The Art Throwdown is an art competition that consists of five art challenges spread throughout the year. Students are given different prompts and different challenges that can range from illustrating to photographing. During the competition students will be signing in to zoom at 6:30 p.m. where they will be given instructions. The challenges will be released seven minutes before seven o’clock where they will be given the prompt for their challenge. During the competition there will be teachers who will highlight students and what they find interesting about their art piece.

“Part of the design of this is to raise awareness to the creativity and the talent that a lot of the students here have in general, but there’s a ton of talented students here at Palatine and beyond who do great work,” art teacher Nicholas Hostert said.

Originally this was a big exhibition where around 100 highschools would submit their best five to six works. Additionally seniors would get an opportunity to submit their portfolios to receive scholarships offers. In order to highlight the ingenuity and creativity of students as they create art work, ARTconnectED started “The Art Throwdown”. The first art throw down started with twenty schools who had a live figure model to use to create art.
“It’s great to have excellent grades and an excellent portfolio,” Hostert said. “But if you can really show your aptitude and creativity as an artist, the other colleges in the fine arts are willing to work with you.”

The way students are chosen to represent their school is not just by the students skill but also on how well paced they are as you have a certain amount of time to complete the challenge. Students should also be comfortable being on camera. Teachers will create a short list and discuss who would be a good fit. Students can vote for our PHS representatives via using the ARTconnectED’s Social Media platforms, such as Instagram and/or Facebook.