Staff photo by Doris Smith
The Lexington Arts and Crafts society sponsored two distinct receptions at LexArt in Lexington to celebrate art students from six participating schools showcasing a myriad of creativity and innovation at the 27th annual Regional High School Art Show, which runs through April 2.
The first gathering honored the student artists from Bedford High School, Burlington High School, and Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School on Sunday, March 5; students from Lexington High School, Waltham High School, and Winchester High School were lauded on Sunday, March 13. Each event was well attended by delighted parents/families and friends of these exceptional students.
During the March 5 event, Emily Taylor, Director of Marketing and Engagement for LexArt, welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming out in support of the students. She said that LexArt was more than happy to give access to their space to the students. She also noted the wide variety of art being exhibited.
Matthew Siegal, President and Executive Director of the Lexington Arts & Crafts Society, said, “There is a broad range of student work, including experimentation with materials and forms, and the desire to capture snapshots of the built and natural world. The best of the work exhibits a clear sense of moving beyond the traditional young person’s need and desire to construct identity, to a conscious and willful demonstration of defining oneself, rather than allowing one to be defined by others. I have to believe this development is a response to the media rich environment that we all now inhabit.”
The Bedford art displays not only featured the works of art majors, but also included other Bedford High School students. All students at BHS are required to take one year of art.
According to teacher Larry Sheinfeld, Bedford’s students created digital art using a software package known as Affinity Photo that the Bedford schools started using during the pandemic. The student work also included digital photography as well as non-digital photography.
While looking at a probing photo of objects titled “The Coffee Brewer from the Art Closet” by Kitty Warhover, program director Sean Hagan said, “We encourage students to take objects from our art closet and work with the light and shadows.”
BHS student Zayd Qureshi created a fascinating mixed media digital collage using a combination of stencils, newspapers, and other media employing the Sketchbook application. This depicted a project in which various types of mark-making were explored.
Other media used by students in this show included acrylics, chalk, charcoal, pastel, clay, colored pencil, graphite, and modeling paste, as well as wire. It is stimulating to see the amount of inspiration and effort the students used to create using differing art media.
Ceramic art was also well represented in this show. There were a plethora of shapes and sizes of sculptures etched and glazed with a variety of colorful designs.
People are invited to view (and purchase) the highlighted works of art fabricated by the high school students of Bedford and surrounding towns on display at the LexArt Gallery at 130 Waltham St. in Lexington. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays through Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The show runs through Sunday, April 2. All proceeds from the sales help raise funds for high school scholarship programs.
Wayne H. Davis, who is the chair of the Board of Directors for the Lexington Arts & Crafts Society said, “Since 1960, LexArt has been offering scholarships to graduating high school seniors who plan to pursue art studies in college. In recent years, LexArt has been expanding the scholarship program to serve a wider set of communities northwest of Boston and this is the second year we have included students from Bedford High.”
Applications for those scholarships are open through Monday, April 3 at www.lexart.org/scholarship-awards.
Doris Smith is the Arts and Cultural Reporter for The Citizen. The Arts and Cultural Reporter is supported by a grant from the Bedford Cultural Council.
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