A Love Letter to Student Artists

An invitation to submit student art

For the 18th year, Chico Art Center is inviting secondary school art teachers to select their most expressive and skillful student work for a gallery exhibition. This display of the formative, eight-year span of our youth’s creative development reminds us of the transformational growth that art practitioners are facilitating.

Visual learners need the arts

Visual learners need the arts for comprehension, ideation and cultural exchange. As students gain experience in interpreting works of art, film, videos, political cartoons, photographs, and advertisements, they learn that they can use their imagination to see and think between and beyond the lines to draw inferences and conclusions. Visual literacy encourages analysis, and evaluative thinking skills. It is critical for students to be able to evaluate content presented in diverse formats, a skill that requires hands-on modeling.

Illuminating the art student/art teacher relationship

When taking in student imagery and artist statements, we experience reflections on beautiful yet complicated relationships with family, friends, pop-culture and the natural world. In 2019, two participating art teachers, Ms. Kerr from Chico Jr. High School, and Mr. Ledwith from Fairview High School, and I wrote the following juror statement to students. It illuminates the student-teacher relationship this exhibit is all about:

Art has the power to touch the heart and provoke the mind

“Dear Artists, It’s incredibly hard to be original. You have found a way to put your truth into your artwork, which people will relate to. The strongest pieces always seem to hit us in a personal way, appeal to our senses or expose an emotion we weren’t aware of. Your artwork has been selected because of this; for its beauty, but also for the process and its power to inspire. Art is not just experienced with the eyes, it has the power to touch the heart and provoke the mind.

“As Elizabeth Brown once said, ‘Art is not always about pretty things.’ You have created something that is now outside of yourself, something separate and for the world to take in. Any criticism of your artwork is more about them (the viewer) than you. You have given your audience an idea or design as a gift to consider.

Creativity is the most powerful force we can channel

“This artwork is just one tiny part of what you have to offer, and yet, it is something unique, something raw and something real that cannot be reproduced. Creativity is the most powerful and unquantifiable force we can channel. Some of you may continue with artistic endeavors, some may move on and become consumed by something else entirely, however, this creativity will always be a part of you, ready to be picked up at some later time in life.

“This has been an incredibly trying year for everyone in Butte County. Pain and loss are ever present as we grow, but art can always be a way to deal with life’s challenges. Take a second and realize how powerful a gift you have to be able to channel the emotions swirling around you, particularly at this age, and transform them into a visual form for your audience to connect with. At this time in your life, you are pulled in many directions and going through a multitude of changes. And yet, you were able to work through your everyday anxiety and struggle to create some of the most powerful work of the year.
“This gift you all have is something we hope you will continue to nurture as you move on from this exhibition. We are incredibly proud of you and the work you have created in our classrooms. The world belongs to you. Take good care of it.”