(Above: Working Hands by Melodie Nix, age 17, Churchill High School; graphite)

By Randi Bjornstad

It’s a juried art show for the younger set, and this year, 33 artists — 32 in high school and one in middle school — have from one to several pieces of their work on display at the Maude Kerns Art Center in the 20th annual Fast Forward: The Mayor’s Teen Art Show.

Maggie Chang’s painting, Killer Lady, in pen-and-ink and watercolor; Chang, 19, attends Oak Hill School

The award ceremony and reception for the young artists takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20. The show remains open through Sept. 27.

Sarah Ciampa, the art center’s exhibit coordinator, said the show offers the community an opportunity to appreciate the high quality of youthful artistic prowess. It also gives young artists the valuable experience that their adult peers must follow in completing work, applying for entry, and meeting deadlines and requirements for showing their work, not to mention the joy of seeing their art on display.

“It’s good for the students to learn this process so they can feel more confident about pursuing juried shows in the future,” Ciampa said. “This year, we had nine schools whose students are participating in this exhibit.”

Some schools have multiple entries by several students, “which is a result of how much certain schools and their art teachers emphasize and support the arts,” Ciampa said. “The teachers make a big difference in the skill levels and techniques their students achieve.”

The jurors for this year’s show include  Sisy Anderson, Jessilyn Brinkerhoff, and Jordan K. Walker. All three are artists in their own right as well as active in teaching and promoting art among students in the Eugene-Springfield area.

13-year-old Selene Laskey’s charcoal portrait of actor Johnny Depp is in the show; Lasky attends Agnes Stewart Middle School in Springfield

Starting Sept. 20, an additional, unrelated show also will be on display in the gift shop area of the Maude Kerns Art Center, Ciampa said. The Miniature Invitational will feature small works of art by 13 artists who answered the call too show and sell this specific type of art.

On Saturday, Sept. 21, the art center will hold a Backyard Bar-B-Que Fundraiser from noon to 3 p.m., with food by the Wild Duck, beer and wine by the Falling Sk

 

Fast Forward: The Mayor’s Teen Art Show

When: Through Sept. 27; reception for the artists and award ceremony from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20

Where: Maude Kerns Art Center, 1910 E. 15th Ave. (corner of East 15th and Villard streets), Eugene

Gallery hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. during exhibits

Admission: Free (donations welcome)

Detail from Twilight, an acrylic-on-canvas painting by Liam Ostrander, 15, of Oak Hill School