K-12 art show opening
By Andrew Dallas-Marconi
Beginning Friday, March 1, from 5–7 p.m., the Madison County Arts Council (MCAC) will present Dream in Art. This exhibit, which celebrates The Council for Art Education’s Youth Art Month, displays creative works by public, private and homeschooled students. “Our exhibit is part of a national push to promote and display art from elementary through high school students,” says Erich Hubner, program director for MCAC. “It gives family and friends a chance to see what the teachers and students are doing, and allows the students to be stars of the show in a gallery setting.” The exhibit runs through Friday, March 29.
Featured in this year’s exhibition will be work by participants in the Partnership for Appalachian Girls’ Education (PAGE) program, including storytelling quilt squares from PAGE’s 2021 Public History & the Arts: Remembering a Black Appalachian School (MHARS), and work by members of the Mars Hill Elementary School Afterschool Art Club as well as original photography from three High School Fellows.
Happy Trees. Keeva Ricci, artist
Among the pieces from PAGE participants showcased in the exhibit are Alter Ego masks, an idea overseen by PAGE project facilitator Jonna McKone. “Jonna led a Visual Diaries project with the younger girls in PAGE last Summer, which included activities around photography, writing, visual storytelling and creative play,” says PAGE program director Maia Surdam. “She asked girls to imagine an Alter Ego persona. They wrote about their Alter Ego and drew their ideas into their diary. Then they translated their idea into a papier-mâché mask that represented their Alter Ego.”
A Listening Station, containing oral histories and audio storytelling, will be another unique part of the exhibition, adds Surdam. The girls interviewed each other along with elders in their communities last summer. Banners have been created with quotes from these interviews and will be on display alongside the audio recordings. Also included in this station will be the first three episodes of PAGE Podcast.
“Madison County teachers collect work for this show all year long,” says Kerstin Davis, visual arts teacher for Madison High School. “My students’ faces light up when they learn their work will be shown in a real gallery. Alongside their work I display an artist statement amplifying my students’ artistic voices to this broader audience. It’s a very special show that gives our community insight not only into what our youth are creating but how they feel and think.”
The Madison County Arts Council is located at 90 South Main Street, Marshall. Dream in Art will be on exhibit from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. For more information about this exhibit and upcoming MCAC events, visit MadisonCountyArts.com. Andrew Dallas-Marconi is a senior majoring in creative writing at UNC Asheville and a spring intern with The Laurel.
