Red Deer Arts Council and the Red Deer Public Library are pleased to present the 33rd Middle Schools Awesome Art Show, held in the Kiwanis Gallery through to May 21st.
From TV shows to celebrities to the world around them, middle school students indeed see the world with unique eyes.
To that end, this annual exhibit delights its audience with a variety of works expressing these students’ talents as they experiment with various subject matter and media.
The ‘First Friday’ Red Deer opening reception runs May 4th from 6 to 8 p.m.
The show features students from Eastview, Central, Gateway, West Park and Glendale Middle Schools.
“You never know what you are going to get,” explained Diana Anderson of the Red Deer Arts Council. “There are some themes that they work with consistently that show up year after year, but it’s all about the way kids interpret the work that they are given to do,” she said.
“It’s like opening a Christmas present because you aren’t sure what you are going to get, what it’s going to look like. Or how it’s going to hang,” she added, referring to the plethora of paintings donning the walls of the Kiwanis Gallery.
This year, there are 74 pieces altogether.
“I love this exhibit because it’s so full – it gives people lots to look at and lots to figure out what it is these students are doing through their art,” she said. “This one is really creative – there is some really neat stuff.”
Anderson said over the years it’s been amazing to watch the youth flourish in their skills, with some moving on to explore their artistic styles further via post-secondary studies.
And while, as mentioned, there is no prescribed theme to the exhibit, there are a few things that seem to pop up regularly from year to year. “We always get really strong portrait pieces, and then you see all of these semi-abstract pieces,” she said, adding that animals and landscapes are popular subjects as well.
Next up for the Kiwanis Gallery (May 23rd to June 17th) is ‘Hang-ups and Insights: the 10th Annual IB and AP Art Show with Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School and Hunting Hills High School’.
This exhibit features the artwork of the graduating students of the Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate Art Programs. From installation art to ceramics to prints and drawings and more, this exhibit showcases the young people who will be the next generation of talented artists, notes a release.
The First Friday opening runs June 1st from 6 to 8 p.m.
