Strolling the streets of Chicago with his family, surrounded by buildings that, to the untrained eye may seem plain, Andrew Arkell, professional architect and artist, sees each structure as a new opportunity to capture the essence of the city’s architecture through the medium of watercolor.
Each semester, a visiting artist is selected to display their artwork in the Main Office, speak to the Fine Art Department
about their journey, and provide advice with hopes of exposing students to various art fields, Alex Remeniuk, Fine Arts Teacher, said. Last summer, at Chicago’s Old Town Art Fair, Remeniuk wandered into Arkell’s booth and was fascinated by his unique work in watercolor and architecture. Remenuik scouted Arkell to be the fall visiting artist, hoping students would be just as captivated by Arkell’s massive art pieces as he was, Remeniuk said.
“[Arkell] incorporates saturation as well as architecture in Chicago,” Remeniuk said. “[There is] a wide range of architecture throughout the city [which] he sees in his everyday life and spends lots of time with. He’s fallen in love with it and is producing art around that.”
Arkell has been on an art journey since his childhood, copying coloring books and dreaming of being a Disney animator. He continued pursuing art through painting and went on to study another interest of his, architecture, at the University of Arkansas. He continued architecture as his career, designing affordable housing in Chicago. Arkell now takes both passions of painting and architecture and merges them into a single piece of artwork.
“I am naturally drawn to built structures and what they say about us,” Arkell said. “You can walk by [structures] and
not pay attention to [the architecture], but I like to paint them because I’m trying to show you something that I think is cool about it.”
Arkell started showing his artwork at art shows in the Chicago area, and his first art show was Art at the Glen. Now, he has expanded art shows to cities including Ann Arbor, MI and Louisville, KY. During his visit, Arkell explained his background in the art field and the inspiration behind many of his favorite pieces, senior Chloe Beach, AP Art student, said. Beach attended Arkell’s presentation and was captivated by his unique style of artwork.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Beach said. “The way he’s able to use watercolor in so many different techniques really amazes me.”
Arkell channels confidence into aspiring artists, like South’s art students. From Arkell, Beach learned the importance of having an open mind when it comes to all artwork and trying new things to grow as an artist.
“One good piece of advice he gave my class was to experiment with different mediums, face new challenges, and open
up your artistic mind to different ways to create art because you never know what you could be great at if you never try,” Beach said.
