THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9503300190
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY ELLEN RIDDLE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
ON THE TAIL of March winds, a month dedicated to youth art in county public schools, comes a showering of student and faculty art works for the public to breathe in.
``Dare County's 1st Annual Visual Art Show,'' which will initially hang at the Thomas A. Baum Center in Kill Devil Hills, features the work of teachers and of 140 local K-12 students - 20 from each of the county's seven public schools.
The show opened March 30 at the Baum Center. A public reception will be held today.
Following the reception, the body of work will be divided and re-hung at the Kill Devil Hills and Manteo branches of the Dare County Library. After a month, the shows will swap places, giving viewers plenty of time and convenience to see the creative endeavors of some of Dare County's young artists.
Featured will be a mix of traditional art, both realistic and abstract forms in two and three dimensions.
Robin York, the show's coordinator, has been teaching art at Manteo High School for 10 years. She was recently appointed the county's visual arts liaison with the schools.
York accepted the position after local educators cited a need for more continuity and enhanced communication among the schools in the art and music departments. The show - and the appointment of a music liaison - are part of the new criteria.
With a wide range of art taught at Manteo High School alone, including stained glass, basketry, sculpture, photography, textiles, pottery, printmaking, drawing and painting, the show should be pretty exciting.
Hopefully there will be room for some of the fascinating junk sculptures that the MHS kids have just completed. These works resulted from a collective art study program involving two other schools.
Using the information highway, an instructor from North Carolina's School of Math and Science presented an art program on junk sculptures throughout history. Students from MHS, Guilford County High School and North Carolina's School of Math and Science participated simultaneously and had the benefit of talking together before creating their own sculptures.
The art that emerged is fascinating.
The sculptures range from mechanically oriented mini-machines to a surreal metallic composition with bent forks orchestrating a tight yet lyrical design.
MHS senior Daniel Lee took an emotional approach. Lee, whose Guard, created a ``heartwarming'' wire sculpture with a colorful base.
A wire heart is woven with painted basket reeds, giving the work a vibrant and sensitive feel. When asked about his work, Lee said simply, ``It's about love.''
Something's working when one sees such incredible expression coming from an individual who does not consider himself an artist.
Ryan Worth, a 12th-grader who enjoys drawing both in and out of school, is more aware of his artistic inclinations.
``It's relaxing,'' he said. ``You don't have to think about it when you're doing it. It's not very strenuous.''
Worth has taken all the art classes available at MHS. But while he is not currently studying art in school, he continues to create and will have a fine pencil portrait in the show.
Singling out students for participation in the show was tough, especially in such a subjective and creative field. Kitty Hawk Elementary School's art instructor, Cindy Wise, tempered the exclusive process by having an open show at the grade school with the county show occurring in its wake. Student art shines from a windowed corridor and lines the library shelves.
Children brought in car models, clay sculptures, paintings, drawings, a handmade cardboard troll house, carefully painted ceramic mold pieces, a Styrofoam snowman and a connect-a-blocks creation - whatever they desired.
``It's a good opportunity to go and see work done by other students,'' Wise said.
The grade-schoolers are excited about the county reception, but she suspects that food may have something to do with it.
The status of art in the schools is changing. With the passage of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, the arts have been liberated from ``enrichment'' status to part of the core academic subjects.
Meanwhile, York has seen a decline in students pursuing art majors in college.
``When I first started teaching 10 years ago, 10 to 15 every year were going to major in art,'' she said. ``Now it's two to three instead of 15, and I really think that it has to do with the availability of jobs.''
Whether the children participating in the county show go on to become full-fledged artists is a moot point. More importantly, they have found and spread their creative wings. MEMO: The ``Dare County's 1st Annual Visual Art Show'' reception will run from
2 to 4 p.m. today at the Thomas A. Baum Center in Kill Devil Hills. The
public is invited to attend. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Manteo High School senior Daniel Lee who constructed a wire heart
woven with painted basket reeds, says of his sculpture, ``It's about
love.'' Manteo High and two other schools participated recently in a
collective art study program. Using the information highway, an
instructor from North Carolina's School of Math and Science
presented an art program on junk sculptures throughout history.
Ryan Worth, Manteo High senior...
by CNB