Northampton High School Student Art Project

In the spring of 2024, students in Northampton High School art teacher Louise Martindell’s printmaking class learned about jazz in a number of ways.

They attended a music seminar led by high school director of instrumental music Paul Kinsman, and a live performance of the jazz quintet, “Interstellar Medium” led by Jahain Cooper-Monize in an all-school assembly. They also conducted their own research of some selected jazz musicians and visual artists whose work has been influenced by jazz.

The course assignment—to create a mixed media artwork that describes their experience with jazz music—resulted in nine works selected for exhibition, and are shown below.

Exhibition Locations

• at CLICK Workspace in Northampton for the July Arts Night Out

• in the project sponsor, Florence Bank’s downtown Northampton branch

• at the Northampton Jazz Fest Donors’ Jazz Party

• in Pulaski Park during Jazz Fest Day

• in the sponsors’ side show at the Academy of Music before the headliner concert

An exhibition of Northampton High School student artwork in partnership with the Northampton Jazz Festival

In the spring of 2023, students in Northampton High School art teacher Zoe Sasson’s class learned about jazz in a number of ways: They attended a music seminar led by high school director of instrumental music Paul Kinsman, and a live performance of a professional jazz quintet in an all-school assembly. They also conducted their own research of some selected jazz musicians and visual artists whose work has been influenced by jazz.

The course assignment—to create a piece of art depicting their own interpretation of jazz—resulted in twelve works selected for exhibition, and are shown below.