Northwest College held its first ever Arts Immersion Day to students of several local area high schools Tuesday. The day was meant to give high school arts students and their teachers the chance to engage with local creatives and college arts faculty.

Visits from individual high school art classes to the college are not unheard of. However, following discussions during the Wyoming State Art Symposium held annually in Casper and conversations with teachers, Northwest College art professors Elaine DeBuhr and Calli Nissen decided a structured day was needed.

The day was split across four different artistic forms: ceramics, graphic design, photography and printmaking. Roughly 80 high schoolers from seven northern Wyoming schools participated in the event.

According to DeBuhr, who also serves as chairperson of the Humanities and Visual and Performing Arts division at Northwest, the event’s goal is to acclimate students to the idea of continuing their education in the arts after high school and familiarize them with the different opportunities and environments Northwest offers students.

“It’s great to have the students excited to be here on campus and understand what the programs offer, how the classes are run, what materials are used and what the next step out of following high school can be,” DeBuhr said. “I want the students to see the opportunities and faculty resources that we can provide to them before they go on to university.”

DeBuhr described the day as wildly successful, with many teachers expressing their desire to return for future events. She also spoke optimistically about seeing an expanded number of participating high schools for future events.

“It’s such a great opportunity for them to come here and break down any ambiguity they may have about the process and make them comfortable with the idea of coming to somewhere like Northwest College,” DeBuhr said.

Although next year’s date has not been determined, next fall will be the most likely window before the academic year begins in earnest for students.

For more information regarding Northwest’s arts programs, learn more at nwc.edu/academics/programs/art-a-a.html.