Arts Council showcases student artwork

Art created by area students will be the focus of art displays in Cape Girardeau during the months of February and March.

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri will hold a reception from 4 to 8 p.m. today for the 13th annual Children's Arts Festival, and the opening of the 35th annual High School Art Exhibition will be at 3 p.m. Feb. 10 in the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus.

Murielle Gaither, executive director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, said the artwork that will be showcased at the Arts Council will reflect its creators.

"Our gallery will be full of children's art," she said. "It's art in its most innocent and pure form."

Students in third through eighth grade from 21 area schools will have their visual art pieces displayed at the reception, and awards will be given to the top entries from each grade level. The top eight entries from each grade level also will be featured in a booklet that will be distributed at the event.

Children's artwork is on display inside the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri for the Children's Arts Festival. (Provided)

"We'll have about 400 works hanging in our gallery for the reception," Gaither said. "People who attend will be able to walk to each one and see the works of art for themselves. It's our way of showing the public what local art teachers and their students are doing in their classrooms."

The Arts Council reception also will recognize the winners of a student poetry contest. Participating students were asked to write a poem about Grant Wood's art masterpiece, "American Gothic." There will be one winner selected from each grade level and winners will have their poems on display at the Arts Council along with the visual art pieces.

"The poems that have been written are about a painting," Gaither said. "I love that we've incorporated art history and literary art together."

At the River Campus, the artistic talents of area junior and senior high school students will be showcased at the High School Art Exhibition, "Exhibiting Excellence," in the Crisp Museum.

"We expect to have works of art from students in 16 counties in Missouri and Southern Illinois," said Peter Nguyen, museum director. "We get very good junior high and high school art for this exhibition."

Alma Schrader third grade student Bronson Retherford's "Vincent Van Gogh Inspired." (Provided)

The opening of the exhibition will include the presentation of awards in the following categories: sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, mixed media, photography, fibers, drawing, painting, the Art Academy Award and Best in Show. A high school junior will receive the Art Academy Award for outstanding work and also will be awarded a scholarship to attend one of Southeast's summer Art Academy Workshops. The Best in Show recipient will receive a $1,000 scholarship to attend Southeast as an art major.

This year's juror is Barbara Bickel, assistant professor of art education at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, were she teaches courses in art education and drawing.

The visual artwork and poems will be on display at the Arts Council from Feb. 1 through Feb. 23. The artwork at the exhibition in the Crisp Museum at the River Campus will be shown from Feb. 10 through March 10. Both venues are free of charge. For more information, contact the Arts Council at 334-9233 or the Crisp Museum at the River Campus at 651-2260.

klewis@semissourian.com

388-3635

West Lane Elementary third grade student Mia Foote's "The Doohicky." (Provided)

Pertinent address:

32 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, MO

518 S. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, MO