By James Tinley
Register Staff
MILFORD — The college application process and all the pressure that goes with senior year of high school had Emily Hauck feeling like the person in Edvard Munch’s famous painting "The Scream."
So much so she painted herself into the angst-ridden portrait.
Now anyone who walks into Café Atlantique can see just what the 17-year-old Lauralton Hall senior was feeling by examining her "somewhat comical, but expressive self-portrait" that hangs in the River Street coffee shop.
Her painting is part of a collection of Lauralton Hall art students’ work that has been on display this month.
The show will with the art exhibit willend with a public reception fon Jan 30.rom 2:30 to 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The display brings recognition to students’ labor of love, which typically gets overlooked, said Judith Doherty, an art teacher at the private Catholic high school for girls on High Street.
"Typically, you hear about sports, ... but fine arts doesn’t get the attention it deserves," Doherty said. "It’s great to get arts out into the community."
"One of the main objectives of the school is to train young women to be self-confidant and go out into the world and be leaders," said school spokeswoman Cindy Wolfe Boynton. "Part of that is taking risks, from which the students can gain a sense of pride and confidence. And I think this helps with that goal."
Mary Alice, a 16-year-old junior from Fairfield, said it was a little embarrassing at first to see people sitting under her three paintings on display when she stopped in for a hot chocolate.
"But it’s nice to see," she conceded. "It was weird at first, ... then I started wondering if people were sitting there just because it was like the only seat open or if they chose to sit there because of my work was there."
Alice said.The work was created in the school’s new art classrooms, which themselves were created in the fall as part of a $2.2 million renovation.
Doherty said the students benefit from the natural light that pours in. Theto the new classroom. old classroom was in the basement.
As for Hauck, she said with a smile and a laugh, "I’m excited for the summer to start, but for right now, I’m definitely still in ‘The Scream.’"
James Tinley can be reached at jtinley@nhregister.com or 876-3030.