Karen Schwartz remembers being afraid the second floor of This Century Art Gallery was going to collapse when the gallery hosted its first juried high school art show 10 years ago.
At the time, she was stunned by the community’s response to the show, the first of its kind to solicit submissions from area high school students. Not knowing what to expect, Schwartz mounted the show in the gallery’s upstairs rooms, located inside an old home on Boundary Street in Williamsburg. Parents, friends and students lined the sidewalk, jostled for space on the narrow staircase and exceeded the rooms’ capacity. The show was a bona fide hit.
Ten years later, the gallery’s main floor is filled with more than 100 pieces from students attending seven area schools: Bruton, Lafayette, and Jamestown high schools, Walsingham Academy, Williamsburg Christian Academy and Providence Classical.
[stextbox id=”news-sidebar” caption=”Award Winners” float=”true” align=”right” width=”200″ bwidth=”1″]
First Place: Ashton Gravelle, Jamestown
Second Place: Amanda Bennet, Walsingham
Third Place: Vanessa Angelique Beltran, Bruton
Merit Awards
Kendall O’Brien, Jamestown
Jane Wilkinson, Bruton
Joseph Payson, Bruton
Wren Beavers, Lafayette
Mark Costanz, Warhill
Victoria Sprankle, Warhill
A.C. Tierney, Lafayette
Kayleigh Lind, Warhill
Honorable Mention
Aubrey Buck
Catherine Cavitt, Walsingham
Stacey Conner, Warhill
Julia Cornelius, Jamestown
Hannah Dowdy, Warhill
Forrest Eversole, Lafayette
Joel Zachariah Hutton, Warhill
Paige Pauroso, Jamestown
Joseph Payson, Bruton
Colton Tsigaridas, Lafayette
Karlotta van den Hurk, Lafayette
Ximena Yanez, Lafayette
People’s Choice Award: Amanda Bennet, Walsingham
[/stextbox]
The works are selected by Schwartz, who chooses how each school will be represented based on its enrollment, and were judged by Darrell Craig. Awards, which include three cash prizes, eight merit awards and 12 honorable mentions, were awarded in a reception Wednesday. A People’s Choice Award, selected through ballots, went to Walsingham student Amanda Bennet for her papier-mâché dress, purse and shoes mounted to wood.
The pieces run the gamut of mediums, from still-lifes rendered in pastels to a warrior dress made of hardware store staples like electrical tape and rope. The quality of the work is staggering, especially when you consider these are students at the beginning of their artistic explorations.
First-place winner and Jamestown High student Ashton Gravelle’s body of work, including a digital collage and a piece created in Adobe Illustrator, looks like the portfolio of a future advertising guru. A ceramic mug designed to resemble a buttoned shirtfront by Karlotta van den Hurk, of Lafayette High School, could easily sell in gift stores today. Jamestown High’s Shanice Trimboli, who has several pieces in the show, already has a distinct style, infusing her mixed media sculptures with both natural elements and hardware. At every turn, I saw work that was not only impressive, but covetable.
The show improves every year, Schwartz said. “I’m not getting as many pieces to choose from, because the students are becoming more self-selective,” she said. When she’s choosing the pieces, she’s judging the students against their classmates; when the show is finally hung, she’s always impressed to see its strength.
Having a gallery show at a young age is an incredible experience for a student. Many students are not sure if their work is really great, or if their mom is just biased. When work is selected for the This Century Art show, a student can see he or she might have the talent to pursue further artistic studies. Many of the show’s winners have gone on to major in art at college, and several current participants are working on their portfolios for college applications.
“Winning a prize becomes more incentive to pursue art more seriously,” Schwartz said.
The student art show will close Feb. 1. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and closed Mondays. Shows are free and open to the public.
SOA to Present One-Act Tonight
York County’s School of the Arts will present the one-act play “TOUGH!” at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday in the Williamsburg Library Theatre.
Donations will help fund a student trip to the Southeastern Theatre Conference, where students will represent Virginia and compete against the top two schools from the 10 states in the southeastern region.
“TOUGH!” tells the comedic story of 19-year-old school dropout Tina confronting her cheating boyfriend with the help of her best friend, Jill. The actors – Cole Francum, Carrie Holovach and Claire Schumann – won Best Actor awards at the Virginia Theatre Conference.
HRA Hosts Open House Sunday
Hampton Roads Academy will host its Winter Open House at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Families are invited to explore the independent, college-preparatory school, which enrolls nearly 600 students in grades pre-K to 12.
For more information, call 757-884-9148 or email [email protected].
Ski Trip Deadline Extended
York County Parks and Recreation has extended the registration deadline for the 12th annual High School Ski Trip, scheduled for Jan. 25.
Registration has been extended to noon Jan. 22, when all registration materials are due to the Parks and Recreation office, unless available bus spaces fill up sooner. All registration materials and more information on the trip, which is open to all high school students in York County, are available here. For more information, call 890-3500.
Seaford Students Reach Out to Sandy Hook
Seaford Elementary pre-schoolers made paper snowflakes last month to send to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., following a school shooting.
Sandy Hook’s Parent-Teacher Association collected snowflakes to hang in the hallways of the temporary school building to turn it into a “winter wonderland.” Seaford’s students sent a card of support to the school, as well.
