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TMA Celebrates National Youth Art Month with Opening of 5th Annual Showcase March 22

TYLER, TX— The Tyler Museum of Art is commemorating National Youth Art Month by launching the exhibition careers of 33 burgeoning talents from the East Texas area with the 5th Annual High School Art Exhibition.

This year’s installment of the annual showcase opens Sunday, March 22, and continues through April11 in the TMA’s Bell Gallery. The public is invited to join the participating artists and their families during the Museum’s free Family Day celebration to coincide with the exhibition’s opening reception and awards ceremony from 2 to 4 p.m. March 22 at the TMA.

The afternoon will feature opportunities to view both the High School Art Exhibition and the TMA’s recently opened Scenes from the American West: The Phelan Collection, and light refreshments will be served. Admission to the exhibition and Family Day festivities are free, but reservations are requested and may be made by calling (903) 595-1001.

“With the focus turned on young talent across the country for National Youth Art Month, March is the obvious time each year to open the High School Art Exhibition,” TMA Head of Education Kentaro Tomio said. “We hope the public will join us for this year’s opening celebration, and help us recognize this extraordinary group of graduating seniors as they experience the rare opportunity to have their work shown in a museum exhibition.”

Senior-level students from eight area high schools had works selected by their art instructors for the exhibition, which was judged by a panel of jurors appointed by the TMA curatorial staff from college art departments in the region. Jurors included James Pace, professor of art at the University of Texas at Tyler; Chris Stewart, chairman of the visual arts department at Tyler Junior College; and Curtis Watson, professor of art at Texas College.

Works selected for the exhibition spotlight “a remarkable cross-section of the region’s talent, encompassing an impressive variety of media,” including painting, drawing and other works on paper, photography and digital imaging, sculpture and mixed media.

The five most outstanding exhibition entries as determined by the jurors will be selected to receive Merit of Honor Awards, with recipients to be named at the March 22 awards ceremony. Each student whose work was selected for the exhibition will receive a certificate of participation and a one-year student membership to the Tyler Museum of Art.

Schools and representative artists participating in the 5th Annual High School Art Exhibition:

Big Sandy High School (Melodee Overton, instructor): Michelle Cook;

Bishop T.K. Gorman High School (Lisa McGehee, instructor): Jay H.R. Kim, Magdalena Sofia Soto;

Hallsville High School: (Jeannie Davis, instructor): Lauren Wells, M.K. Northum;

Hawkins High School: (April Schodowski, instructor): Anthony Hassell;

John Tyler High School (Marilyn Coler, instructor): Jessica Albarran, Alejandro Alfaro, Carl Runnels, Miki Yunoki;

Lindale High School (Walter James, instructor): Megan Renee Bryant, Keaton Allen Odorisio, John P. Protsman, Brandy Laquita Smith, Becky Avolois Wright;

Robert E. Lee High School (Linda East and Linda Keane, instructors): Sofia Judith Arevalo, Libby Bush, Katie Fry, April Denise Hamilton, Chase Austin Nick, Jamie Richardson, Heather Deanna Spiller, Magaera Ariana Stephens, Erika Ruby Valdovinos, Jamal Lamar;

Washington Whitehouse High School (Lisa Kendall and Christine Killian, instructors): Jessica Dawn Carter, Dustin Givens, Anna Godina, Christina Marie Kennemer, Jennifer Motes, Jessica Sibbing, Caitlin Yost, Kayla Zelay;

Support for the 5th Annual High School Art Exhibition is provided by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation and the Caldwell Foundation. Collectors’ Circle sponsors are Margaret and Jim Perkins.

The Tyler Museum of Art, accredited by the American Association of Museums, is located at 1300 S. Mahon Ave., adjacent to the Tyler Junior College main campus. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday (closed Mondays and major holidays). Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday in the Museum Café, and the TMA Gift Shop is open during exhibition hours. For more information, call (903) 595-1001 or visit www.tylermuseum.org.

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