Fort Hamilton High School’s first Art Fair was hosted on Thursday, December 21st, 2023, by FBLA, Fort Hamilton’s Future Business Leaders of America Club. The event posed an opportunity for students to showcase their artwork and connect through live music, while showing what business can mean to a community.
FBLA invited student jazz musicians to play music as spectators enjoyed the murals. The exhibited artwork ranged from artistic depictions of scenes from Shakespeare’s Othello, to cultural pieces, to an intricate recreation of Alexandre Cabanel’s painting Fallen Angel.
Habiba Hussein, a junior at Fort Hamilton High School, submitted her works depicting Arabic calligraphy to the fair. To Hussein, the Art Fair gave her an opportunity to share her culture with the community.
“Arabic calligraphy isn’t only words, but it’s empowering art,” she told The Pilot.
Sophomore and Vice President of the FBLA Chanel Chen wanted to promote Fort Hamilton’s diversity through the Art Fair and allow different artists to connect.
“In my opinion, we need to host an art fair because this opportunity brings a platform for artistic students to show their talent,” Chen said. “Also, at Fort Hamilton, we have great diversity among students here. The art fair also serves as a small event for artists to speak to each other and interact with artists with different drawing techniques.”
The fair also provided the opportunity for the Jewelry and Filmmaking Club to sell items and to display their own unique artistries. The event, in its entirety, comprised various collaborations, which FBLA believes is an important factor in business.
“FBLA revolves around business and the process of hosting events to fundraise is similar to starting one’s own business too, especially that we had to consider what interests the audience (which is basically marketing) and collaborate with other clubs (just like companies working with other companies),” said Secretary of FBLA, Lillian Chen.
Currently, the club is working on hosting a second Art Fair in the Spring, in addition to collaborating with the Riddle Me This club to host a book drive. The Art Fair is just one of the many events that FBLA plans to introduce to Fort Hamilton High School.
