Young Artists 14-15 Brochure

YOUNG ARTISTS: COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL Narratives and Persuasion: Puppets, Prints, and Manifestos December 4, 2014–February 1, 2015 Miles C. Horton Jr. Gallery and Sherwood Payne Quillen ‘71 Reception Gallery

Students, Friends, and Faculty of Community High School of Arts and Academics, Roanoke

Creativity is a process. In the arts, it is through process that individuals question their perceptions, refine their skills and ideas, and shape their reality. It is through process that new techniques and new ways of thinking are revealed. We have much to learn from the explorations, musings, and interrogations that originate in young minds as they develop their creative potential. Creativity requires and cultivates critical thinking and problem solving, skills that are applicable across disciplines, vocations, and stages of life. Further, the visual arts can provide a means to communicate without words and, for young adults, a way of questioning and engaging the world around them; a way to find meaning, to develop their own voice as they transition into adulthood.

This exhibition, featuring the work of students from Roanoke’s Community High School, presents a collection of two- and threedimensional works that explore human connections through various media, including puppetry, painting, film, sculpture, and printmaking. Also included are elements and ideas related to the Marginal Arts Festival, with which Community High School is closely connected. The students’ work on view is representative of not only their current coursework, but the philosophy of the school in general, including its emphasis on process. Founding faculty member Brian Counihan explains:

Cover photo: A student presses a woodblock print

“This exhibition represents Community High School’s first foray into the academic and museum sphere, and reflects our school philosophy rather than any measure of excellence achieved by students in class assignments. Our students are encouraged to develop their own assignments, and are allowed to try out ideas even if they will not be successful. We encourage our students to work in the largest scale possible to build their confidence and explode beyond the mental constraints a sheet of paper can represent. The work in this exhibition is primarily student-conceived and -produced; the larger sculptural objects and structures are the work of our faculty with the assistance of students.”

The majority of the work in this exhibition was produced in one or more of the following Community High School classes:

PUPPET MAKING AND PUPPETURGY This two-semester interdisciplinary arts course combines 2D and 3D studio art, traditional crafts, creative writing, and object-based theatre as seen through a dramaturgical lens.

REPRODUCIBLE MEDIA Reproducible media instructs students in the techniques and theory of digital photography, and relief and silkscreen printing. As a loose framework to structure their ideas, the class encourages students to explore the themes of narrative, storytelling, and persuasion.

TWO CENTURIES OF “-ISMS:” INTELLECTUAL COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL CHANGE A course that reviews approximately 50 “-isms:” cultural, political, and philosophical movements that have shaped Western society in the 19th and 20th centuries. After studying ideas and activities in individual movements, as well as the concept of the “manifesto,” students form their own “movements” to be debuted here in the Moss Arts Center.

, s t e p Print Pup

s,

Papier mache model of a horse created by students

M anifes D N A

A student explores printmaking techniques

raditional-style glove puppets. Shown T here are characters from Punch and Judy, a centuries-old puppet show with roots in Italian commedia dell’arte, or improvisational comedy.

estos Each piece, whether a puppet, a print, or a manifesto, is evidence of a sequence of problem solving in varying degrees—from choices of medium and color, to composition and interpretation—and is a product of a continuing creative and intellectual development. The processes of learning, collaboration, and instruction merge in the the work of these young artists.

Meggin Hicklin Curatorial Graduate Assistant Young Artists Project Coordinator

Woodblock printing process

Participating

Artists

Emily Ammermann Abby Ashley Maggie Avellar McKenna Beaman Rocky Best Swade Best Bailey Bowers Lilly Carr Zach Casey Dane Chandler Rashad Clark Izzy Crawford Aubrey Craye Eve-lynn Deegan Sophie Gettings Christopher Jabbarpour Karl Kaiser

Maggie Kovick Austin Lane Kinsley Alexandra Loftis Isabelle Loftis Isabelle Long Sean Lynskey-Ferguson Luz Martinez Bucky Mason Ashley-Kate Meador Austin Orozco Madeleine Pressley DaQuan Saunders Grace Stossel Josh Sutton Alijah Webb Jonah Woodstock and more

Faculty Brian Counihan: 3D projects, painting, and puppets Claudia de Franko: fashion advisor Les Epstein: theatre and scripts Warren Fry: printmaking Olchar E. Lindsann: manifestos and zines Simon Nolen: filmmaking

Stay connected The following events are free and open to the public.

Related Events

Concurrent Exhibitions

Young Artists: Live Performances Friday, December 5 Artists from Community High School will be performing various aspects of their work, including puppetry, readings, and more in the Moss Arts Center and around Blacksburg.

Sam Krisch: Elements Ruth C. Horton Gallery Betsy Bannan Francis T. Eck Exhibition Corridor Odili Donald Odita: Bridge Wall painting installation, Grand Lobby

5–7 PM, Miles C. Horton Jr. Gallery 7 PM, Blacksburg Holiday Parade

Gallery Hours

My Take Talks This series invites people from all walks of life to share their “take” on the art in the center’s galleries. Join in an exchange of ideas—sparked by the galleries’ art—in a relaxed, social atmosphere.

Check www.artscenter.vt.edu for more details.

Tuesday-Friday, 10 AM–6 PM Saturday and Sunday, 10 AM–4 PM

Coming Spring 2015 Threaded: Shinique Smith, Angelo Filomeno, and Polly Apfelbaum February 12–April 12, 2015 All galleries

Opening Reception Thursday, February 12, 6–8 PM Grand Lobby Free, refreshments and cash bar

ICAT Open at the Source April 23–May 17, 2015

SOVA Senior Studio Show Community High School of Arts and Academics building, Roanoke

April 30–May 17, 2015

For more information about this and future exhibitions, visit www.artscenter.vt.edu.

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