The Art Connection Student Exhibition will take place in the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Hall of Sculpture May 4 – May 19. An Opening Reception will be held on Sunday, May 5, 3-5pm. This event is free and open to the public, just check into the admissions desk for your free pass. Students grades 5 – 9 worked 18 weeks to produce thoughtful works, please come out to support their incredible efforts. I am currently installing my 6th graders’ work and will update with my progress, sweat (and likely blood and tears) through instagram.
This year, in addition to the student show in the Hall of Sculpture, a show of Faculty works will be on view in the Balcony Studios. I will be showing two new works and a few older pieces.
In celebration of The Art Connection’s 90th year, CMOA’s May Third Thursday will be centered around education and this incredible program. The event is Thursday, May 16, 7-10pm. You can pre-register for $10 as an adult and $5 as a student. I’ll be there mingling, teaching, gushing … I have also been invited to participate in an education panel preceding the social event, more details on this coming soon!
Through out the year, sixth graders smashed fears, capitalized on surprises, and explored what it means to be creative. Each project had a traditional impetus with room for students to add a contemporary element, using the Carnegie International as a guiding force. You can follow art_connect_6 on instagram to see the class’s progress from September – March.
After completing a
collaborative project focusing on making marks and elements of successful
composition, students received a crash course in gesture drawing and charcoal
supplies to begin work on a still life. Before their works were completed, they
were challenged to create a brand new composition by altering their drawings
with new materials, experimenting with solvencies, and cutting or tearing their
still life apart.
For their selfie self-portraits, students first executed
value and material studies before integrating knowledge about gesture and
contour to capture important aspects of the photograph to include in their
drawing. In the second portrait of the year, the Natural History’s stuffed
animal collection was inspiration for a sculptural mask. Each artwork contains visual
symbols to indicate the personal story of each character, which is sometimes an
exaggeration of the artist’s own traits.
In a merge of traditional and experimental concepts, students combined fine line drawing and playful watercolor techniques to create mixed media artworks modeled after different environments in the museum.
The museum remained the subject as students invaded reproductions of CMOA artworks with their own drawings, paintings or media gatherings. Looking to CI artists Karen Kilimnik and Jeremy Deller, students also considered how their individual pieces should be arranged to create one cohesive piece.
In their final invasion, students surprise museum audiences with text-based works installed on the top of their exhibition walls. Viewed from high above, these Mel Bochner inspired works use active words, symbols, or language that will prompt the audience to react in thought or action.
This year’s exhibition will include work from all TAC participants grades 5 – 9 and will take place in Carnegie Museum of Art’s Hall of Sculpture May 4 – 19. An Opening Reception will be held on Sunday, May 5, 3 -5pm. The reception is free, you can RSVP by emailing TAC@carnegiemuseums.org.
Jena Schieb 