Avon students’ artworks are now on display at the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, 4 Murray Hill Dr. in Mount Morris as part of GVCA’s annual Scholastic Art Show.
This year’s show features more than 500 artworks from students from 11 local school districts - 49 of them from about three dozen Avon students.
Students in Avon’s upper level art classes decided on which of their works to submit with their teacher’s guidance while works in the studio art category were selected by High School Art Teacher Mrs. Liz Patteson, who teaches studio art at Avon.
Works were judged in 15 distinct categories by two local artists based on three criteria: Elements of design, creativity and originality and craftsmanship and skill. Awards were given for first and second place in each category. Judges also awarded honorable mention recognitions at their discretion.
Three Avon student artists earned first place awards at the show, which opened April 2. One student was awarded a second place and three others received honorable mention recognitions.
"Receiving seven awards is quite impressive considering the amazing artwork coming in from area schools,” said Patteson. “A lot of these students pour their soul into their work and their hard work has been recognized. Congratulations to everyone who entered work into the show."
Student artists from Avon whose works were recognized at the show were:
Drawing
Rose K.: First place for “Self Portrait.”
Mixed Media
Gabbie K.: Honorable mention for “Self Portrait.”
Painting
Olivia P.: Honorable mention for “Khalo.”
Dani H.: Honorable mention for “Black is Beautiful."
Studio Art
Abby S.: First place for “Frog in Tub.”
Traditional Film Photography
Mikaela E.: First place for “Down the Stairs.”
Nolan C.: Second place for "Sideline."
Abby S. said her piece, “Frog in Tub,” was based on a reference photograph of a clay garden sculpture she stumbled upon online and immediately fell in love with.
Abby started her piece by painting colors onto a blank piece of paper and adding texture. Then she tore or intricately cut out pieces of paper, which she then pasted together to form the image of the frog and tub.
“I kept wanting to add more and more detail to my piece, which required a lot of small intricate cutting and gluing. I was behind most of the class in the project so I took it home and worked on it even more. It all paid off because I couldn't have been happier with the final product,” she said. “My parents and brothers joined me to see my piece at the in-person gallery. I wasn't aware I had won in my category until I saw the blue ribbon in person. It was amazing to experience it with my family by my side.”
Mikaela E.’s award-winning photograph was part of a broader series that made use of different aspects of photographic composition. For instance, the parallel stairs and stair treads shown in “Down the Stairs,” coupled with bisecting railings and other perpendicular structural supports, convey a strong sense of line, she said.
“I ended up taking this photo on the way down the stairs to a class when I saw this view from the corner of the top of the stairwell,” said Mikaela, who credited friend Gretta P. with keeping her from falling as she balanced on a railing to get to the height needed to take the photo from the correct angle. “I'm very proud of how it turned out because the light was balanced nicely and the camera focused where I wanted it to focus.”
Marnie Harvey, Mikaela’s photography teacher, credited her student’s “great eye” and hard work for the quality of her winning photograph.
“Mikaela's winning photo is a good example of her approach, showing a unique perspective on an otherwise everyday subject and is technically accurate from exposure through printing in the darkroom,” said Harvey.
Rose K. described her brightly colored “Self Portrait” as “a manifestation of how it feels to be pulled in multiple directions at once.”
“It can be disorienting,” Rose continued, “and if you push too hard it may become difficult to even recognize yourself.”
Limiting herself to such a sparse color palette - she only used seven colors - also posed a challenge, but one Rose found interesting.
“I had to get creative with how I showed depth and form,” she said. “I'm very pleased with how it came out.”
Some student works are on display at GVCA’s gallery in Mount Morris through April 23. All student submissions can be viewed in a virtual gallery on GVCA’s website, or by clicking here.
At the conclusion of the show, winners of the Director’s Choice and People’s Choice awards will be announced. GVCA will also announce two recipients of the Alexandria Gleason-Morrow Memorial Art Scholarship. Gleason-Morrow, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, died in Jordan in 2017 in an accident that occurred while loading weapons into an aircraft. She was 25 years old when she died and left behind a husband and two daughters.
Other student artists who submitted works to the art show were:
Drawing
Nautica M., Ella O., Lena A., Joleigh C., Olivia P., Carmen P., Ava M., Gavin W., Olivia C., Amy W., Alexxis S., Grace P. and Gretta P.
Painting
Brenna D. and Sierra S.
Mixed Media
Sibyl C.
Ceramics
Kaitlyn G., Sibyl C., Carmen P. and Adrianne B.
Studio Art
Natalie L., Zoe C., Lena K., Delaney B., Olivia N. and Sylvia K.
Traditional Film Photography
Adrianne B., Lily J., Brendan M., Chris K., Cooper L., Chloe W. and Kennedy F.
Freshman Abby S.’s “Frog in Tub” took first place in the studio art category of the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts’ Scholastic Art Show.
Senior Mikaela E.’s “Down the Stairs” took first place in the traditional film photography category of the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts’ Scholastic Art Show.
Junior Nolan C.’s “Sideline” took second place in the traditional film photography category of the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts’ Scholastic Art Show.
Sophomore Dani H.’s “Black is Beautiful” received an honorable mention recognition in the painting category of the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts’ Scholastic Art Show.
Senior Gabbie K.’s “Self Portrait” received an honorable mention recognition in the mixed media category of the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts’ Scholastic Art Show.
Junior Olivia P.’s “Khalo” received an honorable mention recognition in the painting category of the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts’ Scholastic Art Show.