PLATTSBURGH — “A Celebration of Young Artists: High School and Middle School Art Exhibition” showcases mark making by promising artists at the Plattsburgh State Art Museum through June 6 in the John Meyers Lobby Gallery.
Peyton Stone’s “Skull of Deer” was selected for the exhibition, which features drawing, painting, assemblage, sculpture and printmaking from students living in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties.
“We had a bunch of skulls to choose from, and I chose the deer skull, and it was put right in front of us,” Stone said.
“It’s called sketch and wash, but it’s water soluble graphite. It took us quite a few weeks to finish it. It was a really hard piece. I liked that there was a lot of detail that goes into it because I’m picky about my pieces.”
Art is a big hobby for the 10th grader.
“I sketch whenever I do schoolwork on my paper,” Stone said.
“I always like to create work when I can.”
RESURRECTION
The student art exhibition was a staple in the community before the tenure of Tonya Cribb, director of the Plattsburgh State Art Museum.
“Actually, David Monette had spoken to me about having this show here on campus and that they had done it many years ago,” Cribb said.
“Probably 20 years easily,” Monette, an Art Department lecturer, said.
“It used to be here, and it was regularly occurring every year,” Cribb said.
“Then at some point, it fell off and it went to the Strand for awhile and they haven’t done it since 2018. So when David mentioned it, I said that’s a great idea. We would love to have parents and student come on campus. I wanted to do something more with the community anyway because sometimes I don’t feel that they know it’s an open campus.
“So it would be something like this that would make more aware we want you to come on campus. There’s a lot of quality things that the campus has to offer that we want you to enjoy.”
Monette assisted with contacts, and Cribb sent out a call for artists.
“We had a really good response,” she said.
“We had some that couldn’t do it this year, but they said they would be interested in doing it another year.”
There are approximately 80 student works in the show submitted by area art teachers.
“They could do a total of 10 from their middle school or high school,” Cribb said.
“If they had only seniors, they could do 10. If they were from more than one district, they could break it up however they wanted to. The teachers did the first vetting, and we put everything up.”
Art Department sculptor professor Drew Goerlitz, art historian Dr. Michaela Rife, and Monette juried the show.
“I thought it would be nice to have the faculty jury it for students in the region because they would get to know us a little bit better,” Cribb said.
“They judged by category. You will see drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media and sculpture. There is a first, second and third for each category. Then, there’s two Best of Shows. One Best of Show for High School and one Best of Show for Middle School. Then, there are two Honorable Mentions. It’s wonderful to see all these incredible people here supporting their students.”
The opening was attended by students, parents, grandparents, friends, and teachers.
Another deer-themed work, “Deer,” was a 1st Place winner for Brodi LaBelle of Chazy Central Rural School.
“With this work, I dedicate it to my grandparents, both of my grandfathers, Bruce LaBelle and Chuck Trudeau,” he said.
“It’s about a young, female deer or doe in a grassy field with a mountain view and the sun setting in the back.”
LaBelle printed a series of blocks in different hues over two to three weeks.
“I left two as the same, but I used different ones and I even used blended colors, too,” he said.
“It was more dedicated to my grandfather Trudeau. He recently passed. It was dedicated to him before he passed.”
Grace Potthast is the Middle School art teacher at Chazy Central Rural School.
“Brodi LaBelle created a relief print, a series of prints, from a carved block,” she said.
“The block is called Safety Kut, so it’s a type of soft-cut linoleum. We used traditional relief or woodblock carving tools, but it’s a much softer surface so they can get a lot more details with a lot less pressure.”
Her students were required to create a series of prints and pull six of their best quality prints.
“So they learn how to judge good inking quality,” she said.
“They had to have their own unique design. The design had to include a few patterns. It had to focus on using shape to tell a story. They began this with an inspirational Japanese poem, a haiku. Each student got to choose their own haiku. My one requirement was that it should draw on the outdoors or nature. Not man-made. Brodi chose a haiku that had the subject of deer in it.”
Potthast introduced her students to an old school Japanese style of applying ink to the blocks.
“They have to apply ink in different layers, different colors,” she said.
“They use a hand-burnishing tool called a barren to apply pressure. They don’t run it through a press. I want them to develop a sensitivity for pressure. Brodi made about 50, 54 prints, and then he chose the six best for the show.”
