Goosefoot Community Fund is hosting its fifth annual high school art show, featuring work by students from throughout Whidbey Island. “Art with a Message” is on view through Sunday, June 19, 2022, in the Hub Gallery at the Bayview Cash Store.
“We believe that the voices and views of young people are valuable and deserve to be heard,”said Marian Myszkowski, Goosefoot’s program director. “Increasingly, our youth are organizing and speaking out around issues such as racial injustice, domestic violence, and climate change.”
The idea behind the show is that art is a powerful tool through which to make one’s voice heard — whether it’s visual, performance, or the written and spoken word. Students were asked to share “what matters to them” and its interpretation was left up to the individual artists, according to a Goosefoot press release.
The art show includes sculpture, painting, needlework, collage and mixed media/assemblage. The subject matter includes social pressures placed on young women, climate change concerns, economic inequity, a reverence for nature,and making art during the pandemic.
In their artists statements, participating students speak very eloquently and honestly about their work, artistic process, and what matters to them:
“When I’m in the forest I’m filled with a feeling of love and serenity, a feeling that I wish I could share with the world. Maybe this is why my art usually involves the forest in some way, whether it be in the materials or the design. When people see my knife, I hope that they will see my passion for the forest and bush crafting. I hope to express the beauty that the forest can give to something as feared as a knife.”
—Ka’Imi Nero, 16
“The amount of overbearing pressure society puts on the younger population, especially young girls, is a real issue in today’s world. Making people believe they have to look a certain way to be happy or wanted. The girl in the innocent lavender dress represents the younger girls, including me who feel pressured into doing that.”
—Jessenia Camarena
“I made this suit in the beginning of COVID when everyone was isolating, and I didn’t have much social interaction. I like to think of myself as an artist/maker who can take ideas and turn them into something tangible. The experience of physically holding something that was once only a thought in my head is one of the most gratifying feelings in existence, and something I’ve been chasing ever since I was little.”
—Kelvin Roque Jenkins, 17
“What do teens care about? Teens care about being amused. As they become more aware of the world around them, teens use humor to block out reality. My print embodies the macabre humor used by teens to comfort themselves at the expense of others.”
—Helen Ray, 17
The Hub Gallery is located in the Bayview Cash Store, 5603 Bayview Road, Langley. Admission is free and the show is open for viewing daily, between 10 am and 6 pm. For more information, visit www.goosefoot.org or contact info@goosefoot.org.
