Students from full-year art classes submitted their final pieces to be voted on by teachers for what will be included in the calendar and the winners were chosen on Friday, Oct. 21. The votes were tabulated and 13 students were chosen to have their works displayed.

Gallery • 14 Photos

Artwork by senior Ivy Howard

The front cover artwork for the 2023 Westford Academy Art Club Calendar displays Howard's dog Tucker plays in the water.

The art piece for the calendar was a required project for full-year art classes, but the students were not required to submit their art to be chosen. Students were given class time in September to work on their pieces, as well as the opportunity to work on it at home.

“It’s hard to estimate how long the piece took,” senior Audrey Fletcher said, “I would be comfortable saying at least 20 hours, which is probably a low estimate.”

During this time the students were assigned to draw something that connects to Westford or the town’s community. Senior Ivy Howard made two pieces of dogs, creating the cover with a work of her own dog, Tucker. Howard was chosen to have one of her drawings displayed as the cover art.

“I have had my own pets throughout my life, and depicting a dog, or any pet really, holds value to me and in my hometown,” Howard said.

This competition forced the contestants to find creative ways of depicting Westford. Junior Daanya Usmani created a piece illustrating the “Market Basket” sign and a woman with a full shopping cart. She also met the woman in her artwork, who has a daughter that attended Westford Academy.

“Seeing the talent of all the artists who made amazing calendar drawings really pushed me to strive to think of something special to put in the calendar,” Usmani said.

After finishing their work, the school used a ballot system to count the votes for the pieces in the calendar.

“As a senior, it felt like my last chance to prove how much I’ve grown as an artist during my high school career, ” Fletcher said.