The Venue Fine Art & Gifts finished its series of events revolving around its showcase of emerging artists Sunday afternoon with an awards program.
Gabe Colman, owner and curator of the Venue, awarded the certificates and prizes to recipients in each of five different medium categories during the final event for the Emerging Artist Juried Student Art Show. The event aimed to celebrate student artists at Bloomington High Schools North and South.
There were awards for Best in Show, Silver Best in Show and Honorable Mention in the categories of 2D General, 2D Painting, 2D Drawing, 3D and Photography.
“We currently live in very divisive times, so any opportunity where I can get smiling faces into one place — and art can be the reason to do that — I consider that to be a good day,” Colman said.
Colman said he was born and raised in Bloomington and went to Bloomington High School North. He studied art under the instruction of Diane Davis-Deckard, who is still the teacher for drawing and painting at North.
Davis-Deckard attended the event and spoke with her students about their work, which she said impressed her because of the variety.
“I just teach drawing and painting, so this event gives me a good opportunity to see photographs, jewelry, stained glass and all that,” Davis-Deckard said.
Joanne Weddle, member of the Bloomington Watercolor Society, said the quality of the work what stood out to her the most.
“I am amazed at the talented young artists we have in our schools,” Weddle said. “Every time I come and see them I am in awe. I’m a watercolorist who took it up after I retired, so I’m still a learner. When I see the quality that these young people have put together, it’s amazing. I know what hard work it is now that I’m painting.”
BWS was one of the sponsors for this emerging artist show, along with Bloomington North Rotary, Picture Gallery, the National Society of Arts & Letters and Pygmalion’s Art Supplies.
Seeing the work of both local high schools side-by-side provides the opportunity to celebrate the successes of the respective art programs, Davis-Deckard said.
“It’s reflective of the programs,” Davis-Deckard said. “I’ve been a teacher for 37 years, and I’ve worked at developing the program for a long, long time now. It’s fun to see how things are going at the other high school, how they approach things differently.”
Weddle said it is not only an indicator of a strong program but also strong teachers steering students toward perfecting their skills.
“I know that it takes good teachers — it’s a reflection,” Weddle said. “When I go to a workshop and almost everyone there is being successful, I look at it as the result of good instruction.”
Davis-Deckard said student enthusiasm lends something special to the ability to teach.
“It’s kind of two-way, if the kids come in and get encouraged and have lots of opportunity for lots of venues to show in, they start gaining pride and working harder,” Davis-Deckard said. “Seeing what other kids have done encourages them to work more.”
Students who won in the Best in Show category were Ben Zumbrun in 2D General, Emily Yeargin in 2D Painting, Ashton Courtney in 2D Drawing, Barbara Granicz in 3D and Sophia Marencik in photography.
Silver Best in Show awards went to Sophie Paquette, Olivia Robinson, Pegah Smiley, Sam Mehay and Isabel Parham, and honorable mentions went to Natalia Kropf, Jaiden Harris, Michelle Zou, Brynne Varvel and Kate May.
Though not everyone received formal awards, Colman said the work on display was all worthy of praise.
“Creating a piece of artwork is incredibly personal,” Colman said. “Putting that artwork out on display can be agonizing, putting it out for dissection, discussion, critique can be overwhelming, but it is fundamental to growing as an artist.”
