Getting Artful After Dark At RFH

March 3, 2020 Elaine Van Develde

For crafty community’s sake, something artsy was going on after dark at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) recently.

Members of the RFH chapter of the National Art Honor Society (NAHS) hosted its first Art After Dark, a night of fun, charity, and artistic exploration.

More than 50 school and community members registered for and spent the evening of Feb. 13 in art rooms at RFH. Participants, from elementary schoolers to adults, cultivated their talents via art lessons by participating in two one-hour classes taught by sophomore, junior and senior art students. Lessons on drawing and shading with pencil, watercolor landscapes, colored pencil fruit and vegetable still life, cartooning and illustrating and jewelry design were all student-orchestrated.

The RFH chapter of the NAHS offers roughly 60 students with membership into a group of nearly 60,000 noted artists nationwide. The Society plays an integral role in showcasing the value of the art program at RFH to students and the surrounding community.

Led this year by co-presidents Andrew Appezzatto, Michael Bogardus, Eva Farr, and Kurt Fleischer, members of the honor society are required to actively continue their own art education through the RFH art program, to help other art students throughout the school year in learning centers, to volunteer their time with local charities and to help promote their own creations or art in general throughout the local community.

Kristen Lanfrank, a veteran art teacher at RFH, has advised the chapter for the past 15 years, helping to organize and oversee student efforts in Art After Dark. She credits year’s NAHS members with a lot of passion and hard work in creating the Art After Dark event to extend their art appreciation reach to the community outside of the RFH Art Department.

In doing so, RFH’s artists have shared their talents and encouraged creativity in the community, she said.

— Edited press release from RFH