Ah Haa Youth Show

 

Show Me Who You Are

A Juried Exhibition of Works by Artists

Aged 13-18

Kudos to Ah Haa School for the Arts for reimagining their annual Youth Arts Awards show with a marvelous exhibit of very different mediums from a wide collection of local youth. The show runs from May 3rd to the 27th in the Daniel Tucker Gallery at Ah Haa's new Silver Jack Building digs in Telluride, Colorado.

Leadoff in the exhibit was Soren Scoville's very professional-looking computer and digital designed bookcover. I loved the practical bent of this piece. It was so well done it look me a while to realize it wasn't a real bookcover.

Siri Shoff had a very interesting photo with her University Steps. The unique angle combined with the blue tinge of the sky that rubs off on the building facade was a delight that catches the eye.  Shoff commented that she wanted to highlight the beauty in Mexico when she was visiting there.

Ruby McHarg's Where the Buffalo Roam uses traditional photography as her medium. But rather than  any particular object, it's light that inspires McHarg. As she says in her accompanying artist statement, the photo "captures the mysterious minutes before the sun rises" on the meadow's vernal pool and low hills. "The light is there, but we can't quite see all that goes on, so we are left mesmerized by the golden light of morning.'

Sophia McNamara's  Dark Hair is an intriguing watercolor sketch that captures a depth of feeling and emotion not usually seen in student work.  The faint reddish tint of the lips and cheek play off the same tinge in the figure's shoulder  -- a subtle but effective addition to the introspective mood of the piece.

Sylvia Erickson takes ink lines  into a complex pastiche of illusive detail and shape-shifting forms. She calls it The Infinity Zentangles. Again, like almost all the pieces in the show, she picks her own favorite medium to demonstrate vision and patience. 

The color, the sharp edges, the cartoon-like image that has such a haunting feel to it -- this piece had be staring for quite a while.  It's realistic and surreal all at the same time. Here's what  Onyx Churning has to say about  It's A ...  "What inspired me  to create this piece was honestly a character from  my favorite show, South Park, and the song "It's  A" by McCafferty. What I was trying to show  with it  was that sometimes love can burn your heart and things won't last, no matter how much you'd like them to."

These are only a sampling of the many pieces and quite diverse media used to showcase work from these young artists. I love the freedom that Ah Haa allowed the students to employ in sharing their favorite pieces. Some of the pieces were wildly creative. And used  really interesting things for their art.

I loved how Ah Haa asked each of the artists questions in addition to an artist statement to let us viewers in on the process each student used in creating their pieces. And having everything in Spanish and English was inclusive in a way not seen in gallery shows very often.

Applause all around for the student artists and to Ah Haa for giving us a glimpse of the fine work being done locally by our youth. 

Stop in and take a look for yourself this week.