Until January, the Newton Free Library is displaying student artists’ original masks and prints, according to art teacher Shannon Slattery.
“About two years ago, Ellen Meyers, who coordinates an art gallery at the library, had the idea of having a young adult art gallery,” said Slattery.
That September, this school displayed student artwork in the gallery. Thereafter, this school and South decided to alternate the seasons in which they use gallery space, so South artists’ work will be showcased in the spring.
“I think that this is a great opportunity for these kids to show their work in a place where a lot of people will see it,” said Slattery. “The library gets a lot of traffic. In fact, I get a lot of comments from people from the art world in Newton.”
Sophomore Elena Schwartz captured the essence of music in a mask.
“I’m not musical, but I love music, and I thought that my mask’s theatricality captured how whimsical music can be,” said Schwartz.
Junior Maeve Greeley created a print for this exhibit based on “Winter’s Summer,” a poem by Venkatesh Nagaraj that tells a story of how summer and winter weather affect the emotions of two lovers.
“I’m trying to capture the two seasons,” said Greeley.
She said she looks forward to her work being displayed publicly.
“I love the fact that the art we put so much work into can be experienced by others,” she said. “Usually, it just ends up in my basement, so it’s cool to be able to share it with others.”
A reception to celebrate the student artists’ successes will be held Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 4 in the Newton Free Library.
