If you are looking for a colorful outing 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 8 and 9, visit the Middlefield Historical Society’s annual student invitational art show.
Hundreds of artistic entries are on display at the Underloft area of the Century Inn, 14979 South State Ave.
Visitors may recognize some familiar faces rendered in portraiture, including LeBron James, Martin Luther King and Frank Sinatra. Or, perhaps a sculpture of Superman, a drawing of a Roman or Greek goddess, or a mythical dragon created on scratchboard will peak your interest.
“I love this show for the diverse art it presents,” commented Gilberta Town, MHS board secretary. “It showcases the artistic talents of our local young people, some of whom are well on their way to being professional artists.”
Town explained the annual show has evolved over its 33-year run.
“When I first took it over, several of the art teachers were retiring and I was concerned that the quality would slide, but instead, it improved with new energy and new ideas on art,” Town said. “I’ve loved all the changes, except for one year when the subject matter was more violent.”
A fair number of works in the current show reflect themes from the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead. Included are skeletal masks decorated in lively designs and flowers along with drawings of similar subjects.
Chris Batteglia, of Grand Valley, satirically depicted a skeleton sitting on a floor with textbooks, including one on algebra. Wording on the picture simply stated Stu(dying). Another student drew a skeletal prima ballerina.
For Berkshire School students, art imitates nature with underwater scenes of tropical fish done in scratch board and collage trees created from recycled pages of text, as if to say that paper comes from trees, but these trees are made of paper.
You can see eye-to-eye with a drawing of a sea turtle by Nimue Shive.
Pottery ranged from a whimsical Smurf house to a functional Cheshire Cat teapot with creative vessels, including a cat bowl with ears perched on long clay legs. Some students expressed themselves using cardboard to create industrial-looking sculptures.
Best of show winner Brianna Fedor, of Chardon High School, created a mixed-media piece incorporating a portrait created from tightly curving lines. The figure was cut out and attached to another backing, creating a three-dimensional aspect. Plastic film was added to the eyeglasses the subject is wearing.
The show was juried by Gayle Wohlken and Beth Nilges-Nehamkin.
Show entrants include middle school and high school students from the Berkshire, Cardinal, Chardon, Grand Valley and Newbury school districts. All of the work is selected and prepared for display by individual teachers who also installed the show, mostly on their own time, according to Town.
“I’d like to recognize the hard work done by the teachers,” Town said. “We also hold an art show for the younger grades. It’s amazing to watch the progress of the children from elementary school to high school.”
The teachers include Carol Leikala from Berkshire Schools, Kim Richards and Amy Alvord from Cardinal Schools, Deb Steytler, Erik Hauber, Kristi Heron and Kathleen Dafoe of Chardon Schools, Annie Peters of Grand Valley Schools and Lauren Tokarsky of Newbury Schools.
The elementary school show is scheduled 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 6, 7, 13 and 14.
To see a complete album of student entries, go to www.facebook.com/geaugamapleleaf.
