The Passages Juried High School Art Show, opened January 31st and closing March 21st, is being held here at Owens Community College at the Center for Fine and Performing Arts in the Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery.
This exhibit, organized in part by area high schools and Shelby Stoots, the Manager of the Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery, is a celebration of student art across many mediums.
“I do a little bit of everything,” notes Stoots about her role. “I help paint the walls, maintain the space, clean the space. I get to install the artwork, which is lovely! I get to work with the artists, manage their schedules and what the exhibit looks like, and then, I take everything down and start over again.”
In addition, Stoots also hires and manages student staff that oversee the exhibit throughout the day.
Stoots said that passages began 4 years ago, when the department decided they wanted a juried high school art show.
“It all started from the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts, Michael Sander, and [Creative Arts and Media Chair], Jeremy Meyer…we wanted to have a high school juried show of some sort. They thought it would be a great way to connect with students, and there really isn’t a lot of high school juried shows out there. And, we thought this would be a great opportunity to open to high school students,” noted Stoots.
Passages has grown dramatically since its beginnings. In the show’s first year of being open, the gallery only got around 100 pieces to display and judge. However, this year, entries totaled 260, across many different mediums of art. The mediums that are shown reflect ones that are offered here at the Center for Fine and Performing Arts.
Stoots also spoke about how the title of Passages came to be for the exhibit.
“I had the to honor pick the name…when I was in high school, I was involved in performing arts; I played the saxophone. I got accepted into an honors band in my last year, and one of the songs we played was called, “Passages” by Michael Sweeney. And, it was all about new beginnings and the journey to the next phase of life, and that really struck me and was very emotional…I want this to encourage them to keep going and growing with what they are doing.”
The exhibit will close on March 21st, with the BIG Read Faces Of exhibit being the next exhibition to be held in the Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery from April 4th to May 4th.
