NEWPORT, R.I. – Nearly 200 of the state’s most talented young artists representing dozens of middle and high schools throughout Rhode Island have their works in all mediums on display through Feb. 5 at Salve Regina University’s Dorrance H. Hamilton Gallery, corner of Lawrence and Leroy avenues.
The special exhibit, free and open to the public, is part of The 2012 Rhode Island Scholastic Art Awards being co-hosted by the Rhode Island Art Education Association and Salve Regina. The program, designed for middle and high school students throughout the state, includes a juried art exhibition, art workshops and awards presentation.
“This is the third year Salve Regina University welcomes this impressive survey of artistic talent from across the state,” said Ernest Jolicoeur, Hamilton Gallery director. “This salon-style exhibition includes nearly 200 examples of student work in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, printmaking, graphic design, fashion design and filmmaking.
“It’s a sprawling burst of truly creative work that completely overtakes the gallery and hallways,” Jolicoeur said. “It’s vivid testament to the high quality of visual arts education that thrives here in Rhode Island, a wonderful counterpoint to the cold gray days of winter.”
A ceremony for 75 gold and silver key award-winning students, their families and their teachers will be held on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall, located in O’Hare Academic Center on Ochre Point Avenue. A reception will follow at Hamilton Gallery.
As part of the program, the award-winning students and their teachers attended a day of art workshops on Saturday, Jan. 14 in the studios of Salve Regina’s Antone Academic Center. The workshops were taught by Salve Regina professors Bert Emerson (digital), Jay Lacouture (ceramics) and adjunct Matthew Clowney (digital photography).
Hamilton Gallery hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. The Gallery is closed on Mondays.
Salve Regina’s art department is among a select group of accredited members of the National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD) who devote themselves exclusively to a bachelor of arts curriculum with a major in studio art or art history with concentrations in ceramics, graphic design, photography, painting and drawing.
The university also offers an interdisciplinary major in interactive communication technology that stresses the use of technology in an increasingly visual world.
For more information on the scholastic art awards, visit the Rhode Island Art Education Association website at: www.ri.net/RIAEA.
PHOTO CAPTIONS:
“Abigail’s Sketchbook” painting by Katherine Lysik, a senior at Nancy Stephen Gallery of Art. Winner of the Gold Key.
“Metal Man” sculpture by Andrew Silvia, an eighth-grader at Joseph H. Gaudet School in Middletown. Winner of the Silver Key.
“Self Portrait Collage” by Jessica Stoukides, a senior at Lincoln School. Winner of the Gold Key.
“Mixed Feelings,” a drawing by Austen Tiburcio, junior at Cranston High School West. Winner of the Gold Key.
“To Be,” photography by Keely Varada, a senior at Mount Hope High School. Winner of the Gold Key.