THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503290174
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 171 lines
SEVEN WESTERN TIDEWATER juniors and seniors are among those hoping for top honors Sunday in the final judging of Student Gallery '95 at The Chrysler Museum in Norfolk.
Student Gallery, for 23 years a springtime tradition, involves students from both sides of Hampton Roads, Western Tidewater and the Eastern Shore.
With works selected from more than 1,000 in preliminary judging at the program's first event, An Artful Occasion, the final judge will select art works for awards up to $600.
Three area students are among the honorees whose work will be exhibited at the Crestar Bank Gallery in downtown Norfolk after an opening reception Friday for students, parents, art teachers and others.
The finalists' works will be exhibited at The Chrysler after Sunday's judging and critique by Bret Waller, director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Sunday's activities are by invitation, but the gallery is open to the public.
Student Gallery, sponsored by The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star and Crestar Bank, aims to encourage young artists and to offer a professional judging experience involving ``real world'' expectations.
``Art makes you think and explore the way things are around you,'' said Amy Andre, a finalist from Franklin High School. ``Everybody gets something different out of it.''
More than 500 students, each with two entries, shared their visions of the world through painting, sculpture, photography, print making, weaving, drawings and other media. Themes ranged from nature's beauty and celebrations of life's small victories to expressions of isolation, alienation and even insanity.
A panel of regional artists and art educators selected 61 finalists and 29 honorees from public, private and parochial schools.
Taking creative risks, selecting and preparing their entries for exhibition and having the product critiqued by professionals they do not know are all learning experiences for the artists and necessary steps in artistic development.
``My art goes in all different directions now, and it was hard to find two pieces that relate,'' said finalist Jessica Mumford, a student at Lakeland High School in Suffolk.
Since Student Gallery began in 1973, the number of entrants has tripled. Many of the program's alumni are now professional artists or art educators, and others have gone on to other fields but have kept art as a hobby.
Awards to be presented this year are: $600, first place; $500, second place; $400, third place; $100, each of seven honorable mentions; the Wally Dreyer Memorial Award for excellence in photography or print making, $200; the Yetta Bornstein Memorial Award of the Tidewater Artists Association, $400; and the Congressional Art Caucus Award.
The honorees' exhibit is open during bank hours, Monday through Friday, at Crestar Bank, 500 Main St., Norfolk.
The finalists' exhibit continues through May 7 at The Chrysler Museum, Olney Road and Mobrey Arch, Norfolk.
Area students are:
FINALISTS
Amy M. Andre, 16, junior, Franklin High School
An athlete, Amy is a member of the varsity volleyball and basketball teams and is a varsity majorette.
Her entries in Student Gallery are sculptures, ``Nature Study I and II,'' created from driftwood, bits of bark, shells, twigs and dried flowers.
``I like putting something together with my hands. I really enjoy art because I can do whatever I want with no one to tell me how to do it. It doesn't matter if anyone else likes it, because it is the way I want it to be,'' she said.
In college, Amy plans to major in elementary education and minor in art.
Jennifer M. Chaine, 18, senior, Smithfield High School
She has attended the Governor's Magnet School for the Arts in Norfolk for three years. Her entries are two oil pastels from a series using dolls as models. Her drawings, titled ``Los Ninos,'' are deeply colored portraits with striking faces.
``I like to experiment with different mediums, but I especially like pastels, painting, and making jewelry,'' Jennifer said.
She hopes to attend Christopher Newport University. ``Dream-wise, I would like to be an art therapist,'' she said.
Angela Horsley, 16, junior, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy
Another artist/athlete, Angela plays field hockey and runs track. Art is her first love, however, and she is considering a career in graphics.
After creating a print of three trees, she searched for the perfect poetic quote to title her work.
Her other entry, a strata of heavily textured and cut paper, was named ``I Can't Breathe'' by a friend.
When did Angela first realize that she excelled in art? ``I haven't,'' she said, laughing. ``I was really surprised, but happy, to be a finalist.''
Geraint Krumpe, 18, junior, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy
He loves art and spends several hours a day with it. ``It makes me more uptight. But it is satisfying to me to make something with my hands, whether it is drawing, sculpture or woodworking,'' he said.
Garaint's favorite medium is pencil, because it is more precise and neater than paint. His gallery entries are pencil drawings. ``There Is More Than One Way to Twist a Nut'' is a dramatic portrait with schizophrenic overtones. ``Blossoms'' is a gentler study of a flower and a woman.
Krumpe plans to be an architect.
Jessica Mumford, 17, junior, Lakeland High School
Jessica is a student at the Governor's Magnet School for the Arts. Her entries are portraits of fellow finalist Jennifer Chaine (one in acrylics and the other in silver point), an experimental technique that resembles a black and white drawing.
With titles of ``Lone'' and ``Lone But Not Lost,'' the portraits express solitude and isolation, a frequent theme in Jessica's work.
Jessica loves horses and has one of her own at home. She plans a future in interior design.
Daniel Pruden, 17, junior, Smithfield High School
His father used to keep pigeons as a hobby, and that led to Daniel's interest in art. ``When I was 4, I tried to draw one of the pigeons, but it turned out looking like a chicken,'' he said.
Daniel has attended the Governor's Magnet School for the Arts for two years, and dreams of going to art school.
His entries are ``Fadeaway Classroom,'' an acrylic still life, and a lithograph print, ``Bigfoot,'' a detailed print of an ostrich foot.
Darlene Ricks, 18, senior, Windsor High School
``I like to do stories with my art, to send messages out to people,'' Darlene said.
Her entries, acrylic paintings, focus on the alienation and isolation of young black males, a problem that is important to her.
``Where Did the Love Go?'' is a portrait, in blues and browns, of a young man who has taken another life. His heart is blue ``because he shows no love.''
``Wake Up'' depicts a young man asleep as dreams of his misdeeds - killing and dealing drugs - float in scenes over his head. ``He needs to wake up and stop making bad choices,'' Darlene said.
She plans to attend drafting school, land a drafting job and then go to an art school.
HONOREES
Emma Esmaili, 16, junior, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
Kathrine Stewart, 16, junior, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
Lawrence Thacker, 17, senior, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
A panel of regional artists and art educators selected 61 finalists
from area schools. From Western Tidewater were: Angela Horsley of
N-SA, left; Amy Andre of Franklin High, and Geraint Krumpe of N-SA.
ON THE COVER: Jennifer Chaine, left, and Daniel Pruden of Smithfield
High and Jessica Mumford of Lakeland High.
Darlene Ricks of Windsor High also is a finalist. ``I like to do
stories with my art, to send messages out to people,'' she says.
Photo by BOB ALLEN
Student art was selected from more than 1,000 pieces in preliminary
judging at An Artful Occasion.
Judges in the preliminary competition selected 29 honorees whose
works will be exhibited at the Crestar Bank Gallery in downtown
Norfolk. Those from Western Tidewater were: Emma Esmaili and
Lawrence Thacker (above) and Kathrine Stewart (left), all from
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
by CNB