Perpich Arts High School Literary Arts Department Presents “Telling Their Stories” Oral History Exhibition

December 19, 2024

The Perpich Arts High School Literary Arts Department presented “Telling Their Stories”, this year’s Oral History Exhibition on December 18, 2024. From brushes with polio to historical reenactors, from prisons to family heirlooms, the Perpich Literary Arts writers interviewed friends, family, and strangers to construct a portrait of their work. The exhibition gave attendees a chance to learn a sliver of history and ask questions of the artists.

Kevin Lally, Literary Arts Instructor, was very impressed with the students. “I was blown away by the creativity students brought to these human stories; they made sense of powerful human lives and experiences with compassion, sensitivity, and joy. Our exhibition was the culmination of weeks of hard work and these students pulled it off in spectacular fashion!”

Clay Pietan (Literary Arts 2025) poses with their grandma at the Literary Arts Oral History Exhibition.

Clay Pietan (Literary Arts 2025) interviewed their grandma on the topic of polio. “It was really cool to be able to share my grandma’s story with everyone, and the fact that she got to be there made it even better!” said Clay. “Everyone in Lit worked really hard, and had super interesting stories to share! I think that Lit deserves a bit more recognition so to be able to be seen and heard like we did at this event was super duper intergalactica [sic] awesome!!!”

Nadia Oian Vust (Literary Arts 2025) did her project on the Minnesota Security Hospital. “As someone who wants to study history, and hopefully have a career in it, the oral history project was a lot of fun!” said Nadia. “There was so much work and preparation that went into it, but the pay off was certainly worth it. I even got to talk to a couple folks who had personal experience with my project’s focus!”

Rebecca Bullen, Perpich Arts High School Principal, said, “I was deeply impressed by the research, insight, and creativity our Literary Arts students put into their work and the overall audience experience. Their poise and storytelling skills were remarkable, and I am so proud of the presence they brought to the exhibition and shared with our community.”

Congratulations to all involved with the Literary Arts Oral History Exhibition!