THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503070064
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
A poster promoting the event offers hints about why the preliminary competition of Student Gallery '95 is called ``An Artful Occasion'' instead of an art show.
For one thing, the poster was designed by a student - Christopher Micklothwait of Denbeigh High School in Newport News. For another, the art is Charlie Chaplin-like.
Together, they say that the ``Occasion'' is all about students - specifically hundreds of 11th- and 12-graders from throughout Hampton Roads, Western Tidewater and the Eastern Shore - and that it offers a large serving of entertainment.
This year's edition of the ``Occasion'' takes place Saturday at Scope in Norfolk. Registration is from 8 to 11:30 a.m., and the event is open to the public - free - from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Student Gallery is sponsored by The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star and Crestar Bank. Among past winners are students who became full-time artists, instructors and other art professionals.
Judges will be art educators and practicing artists from throughout the region. They will select 29 honorees and 60 finalists. Additionally, the students select a Popular Choice Award.
And new this year is the ``Dumbfabulous'' Award for art selected by Sydney Meers, the artistic owner of the Dumbwaiter restaurant in downtown Norfolk.
Prizes aside, the event gives art instructors and students the opportunity to see works by their peers and to mingle. Tables are set up for the students to work together on informal drawings that are displayed as they are made, and the judges are available for questions and comments after their choices are announced.
And all during the day, top student performing groups offer on-stage diversion. So do performers who walk among the students and involve them in magic and other activities.
The honorees' works are displayed in the Crestar Bank Galley at 500 Main St., beginning with a reception at 6 p.m. March 31. The exhibit continues through May 5.
The finalists' works will be judged April 2, by Bret Waller, director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Awards include $600 for first place; $500, second; $400, third; and $100, each of seven honorable mentions.
Also presented then are the Yetta Bornstein Memorial Award of $400 for excellence in painting, by the Tidewater Artists Association; the Wally Dreyer Memorial Award of $200 for excellence in photography or printmaking, by Student Gallery; and the Congressional Art Caucus Award, by Rep. Owen B. Pickett of the Second District.
The finalists' works will be displayed at The Chrysler Museum until May 7.
Student Gallery is open to students in Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach, and the counties of Accomack, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, Southampton, Northampton, Williamsburg-James City and York.
Schedule of entertainers
10-10:30 a.m. - Christopher Newport University Jazz Combo
10:30-11 a.m. - Maury High School Choral Ensemble
11 a.m.-noon - All Star Band, Governor's School for the Arts
Noon-12:30 p.m. - Norfolk State University Jazz Combo
12:30-1 p.m. - Hurrah Players, ``Star Mites'' selections
1-2 p.m. - Princess Anne High School National Award Winning Jazz Choir by CNB