Area college students get to show their creations at annual DVAC show

For The Cline Show at the Dayton Visual Arts Center, not only do many regional art students get to show their works in a local prestigious gallery, some of them are mentored as well.

“Working with our region’s students, mentoring them and providing them with a true-to-life, professional gallery experience is at the core of what we do, helping to foster the next generation of artists and making connections to other artists and art lovers,” said Eva Buttacavoli, executive director of DVAC.

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The students selected to be mentored this year: Sarah Baker, Zoe Duncan, and Latosha Stone of Sinclair Community College, and Odette Chavez-Mayo of Antioch College.

Baker, who grew up in Antioch, Ill., currently calls West Alexandria, Ohio, home. She is presenting three works in the show. “Five Minutes” and “Ten Minutes” are oil on canvas paintings of the sky. “Joe” is a pastel drawing.

“Sometimes I’ll watch a sunset for however long it takes; they change so quickly. For ‘Ten Minutes’ the sun was setting and it went from a vibrant pink/red/orange to something more subtle with the sun just poking through the clouds,” said Baker.

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She is appreciative of the opportunity to be mentored.

“I am learning so much … understanding how the galleries like to put the pieces together, and how they are cohesive with one another,” said Baker, whose tentative plans are to attend The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. “It was an awesome opportunity to help curate and hang the show.”

Works that impressed DVAC representatives include art by Kathryn Paull of University of Dayton and Simeon Estes of Sinclair Community College. Paull is showing work in two media: ceramics and charcoal/pastel. The Rocky River, Ohio, resident is presenting an untitled ceramic figure and a wood-fired ceramic bowl. “Colocasia” was a charcoal/pastel drawing done in her Drawing III class taught by Jennifer Rosengarten.

You can see Rosengarten’s influence, as Paull conveys much more than the plant itself to the viewer. The emotive charcoal work is punctuated with sea green and magenta markings.

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“I really appreciated art throughout K-12; it was a great outlet. I wasn’t passionate about any other subject,” said Paull, who was also taught by ceramics professor Geno Luketic. “I’m a junior studying art education, and I hope to eventually become a high school art teacher.”

Estes is presenting a 39-by-27-inch pastel drawing titled “Cut it Out.” Other works highlighted by DVAC reps include pieces by Morgan Bukovec of U.D., and Alexis White of the School of Advertising Art. Bukovec created “Bound,” a mixed media collage. White is presenting an archival inkjet print, “Duck_Fish.”

These eight college students join 32 other artists in the exhibit. In addition to Antioch, the School of Advertising Art, Sinclair and U.D., students represent Cedarville, Edison State, Wittenberg, and Wright State University. These students were nominated by their fine art and design faculty.

This annual exhibit was named in memory of Barbara C. Cline who worked for 10 years as DVAC’s office manager. Sponsors include exhibition partners Amelia Hounshell and Brian Albrecht, along with education and public program representatives Bob Brandt, Jr. and Marjorie Kuhns.


WANT TO GO?

WHAT: The Cline Show — Annual Art & Design Student Invitational

WHERE: Dayton Visual Arts Center, 118 N. Jefferson Street

WHEN: Continues to Feb. 10

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tues.-Sat., 5 to 8 p.m. First Fridays

RECEPTION: 5 to 8 p.m. Feb. 2

GALLERY TALK: 6:15 p.m.

MORE INFO: 937-224-3822, daytonvisualarts.org

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