Visual Art

Art Creations Take No Vacations

school may be out, but students’ work gets summer gallery gig

Tom Giffey, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

THESE ARE PRETTY TWEET. Among the pieces in the annual High School Art Show at the Janet Carson Gallery are “Cracking Out” by student Nancy Lor (above) and “Blue Veins” (above, right) by Hannah Robinson.
THESE ARE PRETTY TWEET. Among the pieces in the annual High School Art Show at the Janet Carson Gallery are “Cracking Out” by student Nancy Lor.

High school students may have the next few months off, but the art created by a select group of them will be working hard all summer.

Pieces by dozens of the Chippewa Valley’s brightest young artists will be on display during the annual High School Art Show, which opens June 20 at the Janet Carson Gallery inside the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center. The teacher-juried show includes pieces by students from North, Memorial, Regis, and Altoona high schools.

“The nice thing about it for us is late in the year you tend to get some pretty nice pieces,” explained North High School art teacher Janice Roberts, noting that students have spent the school year experimenting and honing their artistic skills.

On a recent afternoon the hallways of North High School were empty of students, but Roberts’ classroom was still full of art. Some pieces were destined for the ECRAC show, while others had been set aside for the display case prominently located near the school’s main entrance. (Visitors to North who enter the door under the giant Husky are well advised to take a few minutes to examine the student artwork displayed there, which changes frequently.)

If the artwork created by North students is an indication of the quality of the ECRAC show as a whole, viewers are in for a visual feast that spans a broad range of styles and mediums. Pieces range from large acrylic, oil pastel, and watercolor paintings to minutely detailed metalwork to finely fashioned stonewear and mixed-media sculptures. Consider, for instance, a tiny tree – complete with a swing – created with delicately twisted wire, titled “Cherry Blossom” by Jessie Holewinski. Or a surrealistic, skeletal watercolor called “Blue Veins” by Hannah Robinson. Or the minute, whimsical bird-shaped locket (“Cracking Out”) made of nickel silver and copper by Nancy Lor.

Roberts is especially pleased that the recently remodeled Janet Carson Gallery provides locked display cases for delicate, small pieces of jewelry that might otherwise have to be withheld from exhibit because of the possibility of theft. “It’s a protected, respected environment,” she noted.

and “Blue Veins” (below) by Hannah Robinson.
“Blue Veins” by Hannah Robinson.

Dick Milheiser was involved with the annual show for many years as an Altoona art teacher, and even though he retired a few years ago he continues to coordinate it as a member of ECRAC’s visual art committee.

“The overall quality is outstanding,” he says. “It’s a reflection on the teachers as well – they’re giving the ideas to think about and problems to solve.”

The ECRAC show will feature about 17 pieces by about a dozen North students, Roberts said, and roughly equal numbers from students at the other three high schools. She said students and their parents (especially the parents) are pleased when their art is put on public display, whether it’s at the school or in the Janet Carson Gallery where a broader swathe of the art-loving public can enjoy it.

“This is our proof of what we do,” she said. “This is our performance. If we don’t make (art) accessible to the public, we’re hindering our connection to the community.”

The 2013 High School Art Show runs Thursday, June 20, through Friday, Aug. 9, at the Janet Carson Gallery at the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center, 316 Eau Claire St. The gallery is free and is open weekdays 9am to 4:30pm. An opening reception will be 6-7:30pm Thursday, June 27. For more information call, 715-832-ARTS (2787).