THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 25, 1996 TAG: 9604240188
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
DANIEL PRUDEN, a Smithfield High School senior, felt a shock of recognition when he saw the T-shirts worn by folks all around him at the Student Gallery '96 preliminary competition in March.
His lithograph, a Student Gallery '95 entry, had been chosen to grace the souvenir T-shirts given to every student artist in the show and worn by scores of volunteers from Crestar Bank and The Virginian-Pilot, which jointly sponsor the project along with The Chrysler Museum.
Student Gallery started 24 years ago as a visual arts showcase and competition for 11th and 12th grade students in Hampton Roads' public and private schools. The program has grown to include students from the Eastern Shore, the Peninsula and Western Tidewater.
This year, 527 young artists - including Daniel - each entered two works in the preliminary competition, March 16, at Scope in Norfolk.
A dozen regional judges selected 60 finalists, whose works were hung at The Chrysler Museum and judged again on April 14, for $2,650 in awards and other citations. The judges also selected 29 honorees, whose work is displayed at the Crestar Bank Gallery in Norfolk.
Daniel, a finalist last year, was again selected as a finalist.
His T-shirt lithograph, titled ``Big Foot,'' depicted a well detailed claw with a shining manicure. The unusual subject matter proved the point made by Student Gallery '96 finals judge Tom Sokolowski, when he said, ``Art is not just about pretty things, but it can also be about science and technology.''
Sokolowski, a former chief curator of The Chrysler Museum, is the newly appointed director of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.
Daniel's entries this year included a lithograph of a blue bottle fly in progressive life stages from a larvae to a fly. Daniel, who also attends the Governor's School for the Arts in Norfolk, said college students on the Old Dominion University campus jokingly refer to him and fellow students from the former Governor's Magnet School as ``maggots.''
The nickname sparked Daniel's imagination. ``We go from being ``maggots,'' to becoming flies when we graduate, spread our wings, and fly away,'' he said.
``Art is not done just for art's sake,'' Sokolowski said. ``There is a cause behind it, encapsulating strong emotions like love fear, violence, hunger, or war.''
Strong emotions prevailed in many of the Student Gallery '96 entries which included sculpture, drawings, paintings, pottery, jewelry, and even a few pieces of leather craft. Some entries reflected a warm and reassuring view of the world, while others focused on darker, more unsettling themes.
Ryan Dixon, a Windsor High School junior, earned an honorable mention and a $100 award. Dixon, who also studies at the Governor's School, entered two abstract acrylic paintings whose subtle colorings earned the judge's praise.
Ryan, who has been involved with art since he was old enough to hold a pencil, valued his award as an incentive toward a potential career in art. ``It encourages me to keep trying to be better,'' he said.
Daniel, who will attend Virginia Commonwealth University in September to study painting and printmaking, values the exposure Student Gallery gives young artists. ``It is good to compete with students from different areas and to see where you are compared to them,'' he said. MEMO: Mail items to Thumbs Up!, 157 N. Main St., Suite B, Suffolk, Va.
23434. Photos are encouraged. If you have questions, call Shirley
Brinkley at 934-7550.
AT A GLANCE
Honorees' exhibit, Crestar Bank Gallery, 500 Main St., downtown
Norfolk, through May 17.
Finalists' exhibit, The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, through May 19.
LOCAL WINNERS
Finalists: Daniel C. Pruden*, Smithfield High; Ryan Dixon*, Windsor
High; Geraint Krumpe, Crystal Glisson, Nansemond Suffolk Academy; Marty
Duke, Franklin High
Honorees: Jessica Turner*, Windsor High; Daniel Upton*, Southampton
High.
* Also attends Governor's School for the Arts ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Ryan Dixon, left, and Daniel Pruden were finalists in the Student
Gallery '96 preliminary competition.
by CNB