Ken Hildebrand of the
Mid-Ohio Fine Art Society prepares the display of the Best of Show artwork
by Pleasant High School Student Zoe Fox at the 2015 All High School Juried Art Competition and Show.
by Pleasant High School Student Zoe Fox at the 2015 All High School Juried Art Competition and Show.
The 2016 competition and show will be held Feb. 26-28 at
Tri-Rivers Career Center.
(Photo:
Bill Sinden/The Marion St
February 23th 2016 - MARION -
Young artists from across Marion County will again have the opportunity to have their work displayed during the High School Art Competition and Show.
Young artists from across Marion County will again have the opportunity to have their work displayed during the High School Art Competition and Show.
The third annual event is planned for Feb. 26 through 28 at
Tri-Rivers Career Center. The Mid-Ohio Fine Art Society is presenting the
competition and show, which is sponsored by the Marion Community Foundation.
Ken Hildebrand, a member of the art society, said the county
show for high school students was an outgrowth of the society's outreach to
area youth through the Boys and Girls Club of Marion County.
"Several people knew that Delaware did a countywide high
school art show, and we thought it would be good to do it here and get some of
the older students involved and get some younger people to join the
organization," he said. "The first show was at the Barlow Art Center
at the Women's Club Home. The second year we worked with Lois Fisher. She was
opening a retail center downtown called The Marketplace. She agreed to let us
use part of that building to do the show last year. In that case, we were able
to leave the show up for the entire month."
Because of the influx of new tenants at The Marketplace, Hildebrand
said competition organizers decided to move the event to Tri-Rivers.
"Tri-Rivers has a very large auditorium space," he
said.
A reception for the artists involved in the show is scheduled
from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 26 at Tri-Rivers. Admission to the show and
reception is free. The public is encouraged to attend, Hildebrand said.
Anne Quilter, president of the Mid-Ohio Fine Art Society, said
the level of talent that was on display for the first two installments of the
show was amazing.
"It's been extremely good," said Quilter, who is an
art teacher at Harding High School. "I was delighted to see the quality of
the art pieces the kids entered and the pride which they took in their art. It
was very affirming that we need to have the arts in our schools."
Zoe Fox, the 2015 Best of Show winner, is competing in the show
again this year, Hildebrand said. She is a student at Pleasant High School.
Michaela Fown, from Ridgedale High School, was the Best of Show
winner at the inaugural competition in 2014.
Hildebrand said the competition features six categories:
drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media and digital media.
Ribbons are presented to the top three artists in each category. The Best
of Show ribbon is presented to the overall competition winner.
"All of the categories are usually represented," he
said. "It gives students the chance to work in different media."
Judging for the juried competition will be conducted before the
opening reception Feb. 26. Quilter said the judges for this year's competition
are Kristina Bogdanov, a professor at Ohio Wesleyan University; Patty Brown, a
Marion County artist whose work is displayed at The Guild in downtown Marion;
and John Penry, another local artist who lives in Prospect.
Quilter said competing in a juried show is good preparation for
those students who plan to continue their careers as artists following high
school.
"It's been a really nice experience for all of the students
to be able to see what goes on and get a little taste of competition before
they all go off to college," she said.
For more information about the Mid-Ohio Fine Art Society,
visit midohiofineartsociety.org. The group is open to any artist, musician
or writer in the area as well as people who have an interest in the arts. The
group meets on the second Thursday of each month at the Harding Centre,
267 W.Center St. in Marion.
eacarter@gannett.com
740-375-5154
Twitter: @AndrewCarterMS
