The OH art programs aim to foster education through the creativity of students’ work. However, OH senior Anthony Spevere has gone the extra mile and created a business out of his art.
Spevere’s artistic style is different from most as he creates bubble letters and cartoons from graffiti.
“I started drawing graffiti right before the COVID lockdown after watching videos from people like SIVE on YouTube,” Spevere said. “Once we were fully in lockdown, I didn’t have much to do so I filled a lot of my time with drawing graffiti.”
During this time, Spevere created an Instagram account, which has grown to over 12,000 followers. This has introduced him to many different graffiti artists from around the world.
“I started my Instagram just as a way to catalogue my progression of skills. I never started it for anyone other than myself really,” Spevere said. “I also started making videos to show my art process as more people made comments asking me to explain my techniques.”
“Sticker trades,” as Spevere calls it, is where an artist creates designs on a sticker sheet. Commonly, these are done on priority mail stickers, as the material provides a smooth canvas for paint pens. As the name implies, the artists will then trade their sticker art with each other.
“Most of my work is done on stickers, which means a large portion of my art I can give away or sell to people quite easily,” he said. “Many people choose to keep my stickers in their own books, stick them up in places around their hometown, or even trade them to other artists.
“I’ve had some of my stickers reach as far as Australia through trades,” said Spevere.
Spevere has even started up a website where he sells his designs, usually of his logo or his signature dinosaur character. He sells physical and digital sticker packs that range in price from $3 to $13.
Not only has Spevere ventured on the business side, but he has also created murals for the OH health classrooms.
“When I started teaching in the Health classroom, there were only a couple of posters, but mostly the brick walls were being exposed. Putting myself in my student shoes, I thought ‘I would not be excited to learn in this classroom,’” said PE teacher, Jesse Ortiz.
Spevere has created three murals during his time at OH, all centered around graffiti words associated with the school. These murals included words like ‘health’ and ‘panthers,’ decorated in blue and orange paint.
“[Spevere] created the rough drafts by using his digital drawing pad, [then] he would send them to me for approval,” said Ortiz. “I would make sure the supplies needed for the mural were provided (paint brushes, paint, floor protection)…When he came in to work, I would have the projector ready to display his rough draft on the wall for him to paint.”
These murals have brought a pop of stimulation to students during learning and instruction time. It boosts success for students and builds connections between students.
“I think it’s important to have a welcoming environment for students. My philosophy as a teacher is, students who are comfortable coming into a classroom will look forward to coming to class,” said Ortiz.
Spevere has provided entertainment and creativity for people at OH and worldwide. Although he does not plan on pursuing an art career, he plans to continue it as a hobby.
“I hope other teachers use this story to help their students and classrooms as well,” said Ortiz. “If nothing but good can come out of it, then why miss out on a golden opportunity to use students for a good cause?”
Hi I'm Chayse! I'm a Senior at OHS and this is my first year on the 42Fifty team. When I'm not at school, I participate in activities such as BIONIC, Commotion, SOTC, and many various Honor Societies! You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
