Art Gallery and local high-school partner to create In Full Colour art exhibit

In Full Colour exhibit opened at Southampton Art Gallery on Saturday (Apr. 16) with 11 art works created by local high school art students.

Given the topic of the Art School, each work is highly individual proving that art is very subjective.  The main criteria was that each student had to create a watercolour art work that focused on the School building itself and also explain in a statement why or how the work was created.

Angela Williams’ work was inspired by the vibrant sunsets that the area is known for and also by Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘A Starry Night’.  With figures floating on clouds in the night sky, Williams says they are meant to “symbolize how art of all sorts makes me feel – as if I were floating about in the clouds.”

She adds that “Watercolour is one of my favourite mediums … I also had lots of fun taking inspiration from Van Gogh … another great influence is nature reflected in the trees and bushes beside the building. Overall, I am quite happy with how this piece came together.”

Williams, a Grade 11 student, hopes to become a Pediatrician. “I’m a lifeguard at our local pool and I like to work with kids but I also really like science and I think being a Pediatrician combines the two perfectly.”

Grade 11 student, Sophia Sutherland, created her work combining watercolour with pen and ink and alcohol in in watercolour markers.  Sutherland says that her art was inspired by her favourite book, ‘The Little Prince’.  “The theme of the book is to not be so serious and see things through the yes of a child and find what is truly important and what you just think is important.”  She went on to say that it was her intention to create a work that was child-like.  “Even if it is not perfectly how I wanted it to be,  it’s perfectly mine and nobody else can say that.  I learned that not everything is going to turn out how you want it to, but maybe you needed to make that mistake and maybe everything happens for a reason that we just can’t see yet.”

Sutherland, who is in French Immersion and will soon be certified as fluently bilingual, hopes to go to Concordia University in Montreal to become an Art Therapist and work in the mental health field.

Both students credited their teacher, Adrian Kahgee, herself an artist and Community Arts Educator, currently teaching Visual Arts and Indigenous Studies at Saugeen District Senior School (SDSS) in Port Elgin (Saugeen Shores), where both students attend.

The winning art work will be a Peoples’ Choice award. The public is invited to vote in-person at the Gallery and online at https://forms.gle/qEeBiANEhay6SJwS8.

The Art School will be choosing three other entries, along with the People’s Choice winner, to create a set of four gift cards. Each student that is chosen will receive a set of the cards. The remaining sets will be sold to raise funds for art kits for youth in our community.

 The exhibit is only one-week in length and will run until Sunday, April 24th.
Hills Insurance has sponsored the Exhibit.