Central students take awards at two area art exhibits

The accolades keep coming for Cape Girardeau School District art students.

Several recently garnered awards at the 36th annual High School Art Exhibition, "Exhibiting Excellence," at the River Campus, and several students also were recognized at the Teen Spirit Exhibition in Paducah, Ky.

In the show at the River Campus, more than 100 pieces created by students from across the region will be displayed in the Crisp Gallery through March 16. Central art teachers Robert Friedrich and Elizabeth Thomas, along with Lawrence Brookins from the Alternative Education Center, taught many of the students who earned recognition at the event.

Cape Central High School students Sydney Messerli, left, Bethany Morris, center, and Ally Hebert pose for a photo in the classroom on Monday. (Laura Simon)

Thomas' students Ally Hebert, Bethany Morris and Sydney Messerli all received laurels for their work at the River Campus show, plus a recent show titled Teen Spirit in Paducah.

At the River Campus, Messerli received second place for "Blur" in the fibers category; in sculpture, she was awarded second place for "Call of the Wild," and she earned third place in mixed media for "Vintage."

Hebert was honorable mention for her painting "Remember 42" and honorable mention in mixed media went to Morris for "The Ultimate Sacrifice."

At Teen Spirit, Hebert received best of painting for "Check Mate" and a scholarship for a summer workshop at Murray State University in Murray, Ky. She'll be able to choose the summer workshop in which she'd like to participate.

Bethany Morris received best of sculpture for "Blow Fish" -- a ceramic sculpture with nails sticking out of every part of it -- created in her class with Friedrich; and Sydney Messerli received honorable mention for her painting "Going Rouge" and a Paducah School of Art scholarship for her painting. 

Morris said she entered the blow fish in the High School Art Exhibition last year and earned third place and the piece was named best of sculpture at Paducah.

"I was just ... thinking of the different children of animals that I could do. I thought a blowfish would be really fun to make, and with the nails, my ceramics teacher, Mr. Friedrich, actually thought about it and he had me dig through this giant box of nails," she said.

For Hebert's piece, "Check Mate," she said she was supposed to paint a still life of a game. The painting earned her a scholarship to an art workshop at Murray State University.

"I found chess to be really nice because it makes connections to ... how battles were in the old days," Hebert said. "We were supposed to write a paper on it, too, and I found chess was used as a pacifist way to settle conflicts, so I set it up kind of like a battlefield. ..."

Messerli's "Going Rouge" is a surrealistic painting she put together after "flipping through lots of magazines."

"I think my favorite part about it is definitely the lips and the bright colors. It's something fun," Messerli said.

Thomas said this is the second year her students have taken part in Teen Spirit. Eleven students entered last school year. This year, most students submitted two or three pieces, she said. In total, about 300 students entered and 120 were put into the show, which finished earlier this month, just in time for the River Campus event.

"Last year, we didn't win anything, so this year we were really pleased," she said. " ... I felt confident that most of the work would get into the show."

Thomas has taught all three girls at various points in their development. She works with her students in painting, fibers, mixed media and drawing, while Friedrich works with them on ceramics and sculpture.

"They're all accomplished artists without any instruction from me," she said. "They are hardworking; they are perfectionists, I suppose. They're particular about their own work, so it shows in the quality of the work that they produce."

Morris said she was excited to have her work in the shows in Paducah and the River Campus.

"Even if you don't place, it's still really fun," she said. "I like to see everyone else's work."

That was a feeling shared by her classmates, who all liked Shelby Creado's drawing, "The Girl with the Peacock Feather," which won best of show at the River Campus event.

Acrylics are the current favorite medium for Messerli, Morris and Hebert.

"I think painting's more of a challenge for me," Hebert said. "It takes a lot of dedication and I think whenever it's done, it can look really good."

Messerli has taken on the difficult task of painting people and making them appear realistic.

"I feel like the hardest part is definitely the skin -- getting the shading right and the right colors and making them look like they're actually alive instead of dead," she said.

Faces and hair also present challenges, the girls said.

"You have to make it look like real hair rather than a blob of paint," Morris said.

Although it can be challenging, the students all say art -- in whatever form -- takes them away from their worlds for a while.

"It's an escape," Hebert said. " ... There have been many times where I've been done with the world, or I've felt bad and I've come into art class and I just sat down and I worked on my painting and I felt so much better whenever I left."

"It's definitely a happy place," Messerli said. "It makes you feel so much better when you're going through tough times."

"It kind of makes you forget about everything else and just concentrate on what you're doing. You put a lot of emotion into it," Morris said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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