Call to High School Artists in Malden

High school students enrolled in Fall-2016-2017 school year are invited to participate in a community arts event, Pictures at an Exhibition: A Tribute to Friendships. This event is intended not only to provide artistic stimulation and inspiration for area visual artists, but also to enhance the enjoyment and understanding of music, visual art and the creative process for the general public.

The idea for this celebration of the connections between the arts came from the moving story of composer Modest Mussorgsky and his artist friend Viktor Hartmann. Mussorgsky wrote a work for piano as a tribute to Hartmann after the painter’s untimely death. The composer used the artist’s paintings and the idea of a promenade through an exhibition of his works to give shape to the music that became known as Pictures at an Exhibition. Although the music was written in 1874, it still captivates audiences today. The aim of this project is to continue the original creative flow by letting the music, as well as the idea of paying tribute to friends, inspire student artists to create their own art.

Submissions from adult artists have been reviewed by three jurors. (Malden High graduate and successful cartoonist Keith Knight is one of the  jurors.) We now invite high school students to participate. Student art will not be subject to review by jurors, but will be selected by you, their teachers.

Students’ artwork will be displayed as part of a community event in Jenkins Auditorium on November 5, 2016, which will include a public performance of Pictures at an Exhibition by local concert pianist, Yelena Beriyeva.

Student artists are encouraged to create artwork after listening to a recording of Beriyeva performing Pictures, available (for artists only) at the following link: artfulwebs.com/pictures/recording-of-pictures-at-an-exhibition/.  Once they listen to the music, students are free to create whatever 2D image they wish in any medium as long as it adheres to the guidelines detailed below. The artwork can be an actual tribute to a friend (living or dead) or a simple response to hearing or learning anything about the music.

The November 5 event will also include the adult artists’ work, a dramatic presentation about Mussorgsky and Hartmann featuring high school actors, projections of select submissions during the concert, and an opportunity for the public to share a tribute to a friend in visual or verbal form. An additional exhibit of the art will follow in the gallery at MATV, Malden’s Media Center, and will continue until January 12, 2017 along with an online gallery of student art available through the end of the school year.

We hope that high school art mentors and instructors will weave this opportunity for students to participate into the fall semester and submit a portfolio of student works to be included in the November 5 event. For this we ask that the pieces are ready to hang by October 26, 2016.

Guidelines for student submissions are detailed below and available for download.

Instructors are encouraged to contact Lisa Sears, Artist and Liaison for the high school art.


Visual Art Guidelines, High School
Pictures at an Exhibition: A Tribute to Friendships

Requirements:

  1. Participant must be an enrolled student at one of Malden’s high schools for the 2016-2017 school year.
  2. All artwork must be original. No copies of paintings, reproductions, or photographs other than those taken by the artist are permitted.
  3. Due to constraints of the gallery, only 2D work will be accepted: paintings, drawings, mixed media, prints, original photographs, or fiber works that hang flat on a wall.
  4. Work must dry and ready to hang; the committee will frame works for the exhibit. Artwork must fit into a 8×10 frame, 11×14 frame or 16×20 frame. (Art can be vertical or horizontal and can fit to edges of the frame or “float” if smaller than the frame.) Stretched canvas is permitted if ready to hang. (Contact call to artists consultant Lisa L. Sears with framing questions: lisa_l_sears@yahoo.com)
  5. No artwork may be removed from the exhibit prior to its closing.
  6. Teachers must sign a “Hold Harmless” agreement with MATV when work is collected from the school for exhibit.
  7. There are no fees associated with participating. Students will be given a courtesy RESERVE ticket to the concert for participating.

Submissions:

Participating teachers may select one work per student. It is at the discretion of the teacher to pick work he/she deems distinguished in artistic execution and/or in artistic sensibility to the assignment. Art work will be collected October 26, 2016 from teachers at each school and returned at the close of the exhibition in mid January.

Please attach to the back of the artwork the following legibly-written information:

  • Name [student name as it will appear on label and any possible publicity]
  • Exact title of artwork
  • Medium  [ie., watercolor, colored pencil]
  • Size [inches high, inches wide]
  • Where applicable, Section or sections of the music to which artwork is connected [ie., The Gnome] (see last page for list)
  • School and participating teacher
  • Also email the above information to: lisa_l_sears@yahoo.com with High School submission: Pictures in the subject field.

Calendar:

  • Artwork collected October 26, 2016 by high school participation coordinator Sharon Santillo; we will frame and hang the artwork.
  • Saturday, November 5 artwork is displayed at Jenkins Auditorium, Malden.
  • Saturday, November 5 at 4 pm concert and art exhibit at Jenkins Auditorium, Malden.
  • Wednesday, November 9-January 12 exhibit at MATV Gallery, Malden.
  • Mid-January, artwork is returned (unframed, in its original condition) to participating school.

Exhibit Spaces:

Jenkins Auditorium (Malden High School) seats 900; located 77 Salem Street, Malden.

Artwork will be displayed in the hallways of Jenkins Auditorium on the day of the concert and then moved for the remainder of the exhibit to MATV Gallery.

MATV Gallery at MATV, Malden’s Media Center, is an intimate, community-centered art exhibition space located at 145 Pleasant Street, Malden. It is open to the public Monday-Thursday, 10 am – 9 pm, Friday 10 am – 6 pm and Saturday 10 am – 2 pm.

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