The Student Art Show of 2012

The PoconoArts Community Cultural Center in Stroudsburg, PA held an Artists’ Reception on Sunday March 11th for their 19th Annual Juried Student Art Show featuring the works of students who are enrolled in the school systems scattered around the Monroe County, PA area. These schools included East Stroudsburg High School-South, Pleasant Valley High School, Pocono Mountain High School-East (Senior and Junior) and West, Stroudsburg High School, and (for the first time) The Pocono Elementary Center. The exhibition at The PoconoArts Community Cultural Center also included a small gallery for Art Educators and a wall of writing which features literary and poetic works.

As one could imagine, the reception was well attended as many of the artists’ friends and family members came to support their endeavors. While this may be wonderful news on the face of it, it is somewhat unfortunate more members of the general public weren’t in attendance. The exhibition not only provided an opportunity for the young artists to present their creative endeavors in a gallery setting, but it also provided an opportunity for art lovers to capture a glimpse of what will shape the foundations of the local creative community in the years to come.

It may be that many decided not to attend the reception based upon an assumption the work created by teens and younger children would not be favorably comparable to what a more experience artists with the age associated with his or her identity may create. While this assumption proved to be true for a small minority of the pieces, the vast majority of the work transcended such preconceived expectations as this exhibition was much more than a group of pictures placed upon the wall of a school’s hallway. There was a great deal of quality and originality in which one did not have to be a parent, a sibling, or a BFF of the artist to appreciate his or her endeavors.

Those student artists participating in The PoconoArts 19th Annual Juried Student Art Show included Brittney Allivato, Myicia Altman, Malia Balas, Danielle DeLeone, Erin Flaherty, Ricardo Garcia, Kimberly Gomez, Chelsey Hamill, Sabryna Hunt, Dulvanese Innecco, Hugh Lucas, Thomas Marzella, Taylor Sebring, Kristina Selinski, MeKenna Siclels, Emily Thaler, Kynea Rubin, Melissa Velardi, and Hope Wicks. The faculty who were presented in Art Educator Gallery included Mark Ciocca, Denise Thomas, Paul Steinruck, Shelly Grillo, and Nancy Bohm. The poet presented on the Center’s Wall of Writings is C. J. Coic who has been referred to as the Jack Kerouac of the Poconos and bored this association out as he read his work during the awards ceremony.

As indicated earlier, the exhibition is a juried one with John Kopp and Richard Spezzano serving as jurors. The Award Sponsors were The Monroe County Bar Association, The Pocono Chapter, PA Guild of Craftsmen, and The Pocono Arts Council. The Awards recipients were Amy Setzer who received second place and Dylan Rarick who received first place in the Junior Category, Matt McFadden who received first place in the Photography Category, Skyla Rose Wuebber who received an award for her 3-D work, Skye Relosa who received second place, Gina Dispensa who received first place, and Joseph Pennino who received honorable mention in the Fine Crafts Category, Chelsea Caceres who received second place, Kourtney Lark who received first place, and Nicole Keiser who received honorable mention in the 2-D Category. The Best of Show Award was presented to Dominick for his work titled, “Pragmatic Opposition.”

The Pocono Arts Council’s 19th Annual Juried Student Art Show at The PoconoArts Community Cultural Center in Stroudsburg, PA continues until March 25th. The next exhibits to be presented in the Center’s ArtSpace and Studio Galleries will be “The Art of the Store II” which will run from April 1st through the 24th and The PoconoArts Members Exhibition running from May 6th until the 29th with an Artists’ Reception scheduled for Saturday May 19th. You’ll find more photographs taken during the “Student Art Show” Artists’ Reception in The PoconoArts Community Cultural Center 2012 Gallery at www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150596801360421.441769.636000420&type=3.

The PoconoArts Community Cultural Center is part of The PoconoArts Council which is an organization designed to build the communities in which it serves artistically and culturally by providing leadership, service, and education. It does so by offering avenues for artists to display their work through the center and other galleries, educational opportunities for those who would like to explore and/or enhance their creative natures, and encouragement to those who seek to express and/or support the arts. You’ll be able to learn more about The PoconoArts Council, The PoconoArts Community Cultural Center, and all they offer the creative community at www.poconoarts.org.