When Jones Middle School art teacher Margaret Cloern gave her students the assignment to create a piece of artwork tied to African American culture, eighth-grader Andrew Kibbe had an idea.
“I've always wanted to go to New Orleans. The culture and energy inspired me to do something unique,” Andrew says.
The 14-year-old was inspired by this lifelong goal to create three voodoo dolls, something none of his classmates were interested in creating, he says. Two of the dolls are about 6 inches tall, and the third is a bit shorter. All three dolls are made out of reused materials.
“I used all natural things like fabric from old clothes, jeans and sweaters and then covered them in moss,” Andrew says.
Andrew’s dolls will be among some 300 two-dimensional and 60 three-dimensional pieces of artwork slated for display at the Concourse Gallery from April 1-25 as part of the gallery’s annual student showcase. Artwork from high school students from Upper Arlington High School and The Wellington School are on display March 5-April 28. Work by middle school students from Hastings, Jones, St. Agatha, St. Andrew and Wellington will be on display in April. The gallery, located in the Upper Arlington Municipal Services Center, has 3,500 square feet available to display a variety of artwork.
Media range from photography to graphics, paintings, sculptures and short films, says Lynette Santoro-Au, arts manager for the city’s Cultural Arts Division.
“I'm amazed each year at the creativity of our students and teachers,” says Santoro-Au.
Because each school is only allowed to submit a certain number of works for display, entries are juried by the teachers at each school.
“Students are creating works in the classrooms and the teachers are selecting which pieces of work are shown in the gallery,” Santoro-Au says.
Frequently, the high school student work displayed at the gallery is for sale. Teaching the students how to price their own work is one of the educational benefits of the show, Santoro-Au says.
In fact, the city purchased a ceramic piece from last year’s show for display in its permanent collection, she says. The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Holly Butcher is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
