Spotlight on teen artists

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Guests look over the work of area high school artists during a reception for the 2012 High School Biennial Art Show held at Indiana University Northwest in Gary, Ind. | Jeffrey D. Nicholls~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: March 6, 2012 8:13AM

Student artists from area high schools said they couldn’t quite tell when to stop with the final brushstrokes on their art projects. When the lights were turned on at a local art show, they knew the time was right to present their creative works.

Paintings and sculpture fresh from the classrooms of area teens greeted visitors of the High School Biennial Art Show held recently at Indiana University Northwest’s Gallery for Contemporary Art in Gary.

Thirty-seven student entries hung on the gallery walls as parents and visitors stopped to size up colorful paintings, high-contrast marker sketches and decorative sculpture. Most of the young artists stood by ready to field questions about their submissions to the Jan. 27 contest.

A tradition since 1998, the gallery curator and director said the event helps bring forth students’ abilities to create art and explain their motivations.

”I love to meet the students,” said Ann Fritz at the IUN show that wrapped the month-long display.” It’s kind of nice to
see their high school work and then to see what they’ve done years later.”

She said she appreciates the recommendations of region art teachers for student submissions.

Andrean High School art teacher Charlotte Spence also applauded the teen artists, saying she could sense their creativity bursting forth from the paper.

Standing near her painting titled “Red Twuck,” Lake Central senior Demarie Hancock said her work was inspired by a 2-year-old relative’s playfulness. The painting showed a boy holding up and eyeing a toy truck.

“I kind of study people first,” said Hancock. “I see Gabriel all the time. I took a photo of him when he was playing. I use a little bit of both (memory) and photos.”

Crown Point High School sophomore Ben Miller, 16, said he transferred his day-in-the-life thoughts onto paper using a black Sharpie marker to create “A Day in My Mind.”

Miller’s musical friends have already commissioned him to produce album art in a style similar to the work he featured in the biennial show. His displayed piece featured floral prints nestled near shapes with jagged lines and white space.

“I was told I had to base this off a different type of art style,” said Miller. “I based it off my art (style) and Henna art. It’s two different styles clashing together, and I just thought it was nice.”

Not sure exactly when to stop adding details to her mixed media work “Lean, Mean, Motorcyclin’ Machine,” 17-year-old Kim Variot of Hebron was surprised at the colorful result. So was her mother.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” Denise Variot said. “We hadn’t seen the picture. Kim couldn’t understand why she was chosen (for the show.) Of course, I love it.”

At the conclusion of the exhibition, nationally known artist and show jurist Valerie Taglieri congratulated participants. Winners included: first place, Stephanie Regnier-Miller; second place, Kathy McGrath; third place, Nick Stanish; honorable mention, Clay Williams; honorable mention, Brigid Scannell.

McGrath, a Munster High School senior, said her work “Letters to Michael,” was an emotional outpouring for her hometown boyfriend Michael Swift when he went to boot camp for the Marines.

“I feel this explains exactly how I feel,” McGrath said standing near her pencil and watercolor image of a girl looking resigned and holding a letter with colors tearing from the paper.