Art all-stars to be focus of Southside event
“Back by popular demand” may be an overused phrase, but in some cases it applies.
When the Palate 2 Palette Youth Gallery, a yearly juried art contest featuring area high school students, quietly disappeared in 2017 after an eightyear run, the response was compelling.
The multifaceted Palate 2 Palette event, which raised money for the Craniofacial Foundation of America, had run its course locally, but the need for a juried high school art contest remained.
Art teachers at Chattanooga area public and private schools openly lobbied for the contest’s return, having used it to cultivate and reward promising talent.
Well, the drumbeat for a revival has been answered.
Thanks to the perseverance of a couple of never-say-die volunteer coordinators, Jeannie Harper and Terry Smyth, the Chattanooga Youth Gallery will be launched as a stand-alone event this year.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 24, when the gallery will return to its home in The Church on Main event venue at 1601 Rossville Ave. in the Southside.
The gallery, juried by three local art experts, will feature the work of students from up to 34 local high schools. Typically, there are about 500 entries, and 125 to 130 are chosen for display in the gallery. One entry is chosen “best of show” and it and eight others are featured on a “wall of distinction.”
Smyth, a former executive director of the Craniofacial Foundation of America, said she learned the value of the gallery from personal experience. The first year of the competition, her daughter, then a high school student, entered the contest but her work was not chosen to show.
“She got a great life lesson,”
said Smyth, who notes her daughter went on to study art in college and now works for a electronic gaming company designing backdrops for video games.
Another time, Smyth said a high school art teacher told her that one student who showed signs of depression was transformed after her work was shown at the gallery.
“I knew this gallery could stand on its own any time,” she said.
“I’m excited to know the community wants it,” added Harper, who is in charge of logistics for the two-day event.
The gallery will kick off with a reception for participants and parents on Friday, March 23, followed by an open-to-the-public showing on March 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission to the Saturday event is $2 for students, $5 for adults. Students chosen for the “wall of distinction” will be honored at a banquet on Saturday evening.
Harper says Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union is the primary sponsor for the event, and artist Miki Boni will lead a workshop for the young artists on how to market their work.
In a new twist this year, the Association for Visual Artists will provide a tent for the sale of student art work at its annual 4 Bridges Art Festival here April 21-23.
Selling their art at an established festival will add a “reallife” element to this year’s galleries, the volunteers say. The idea is to introduce the students to marketing strategies that will make art a viable career for the most gifted among them.
For more information about the Chattanooga Youth Gallery, visit the event’s evolving website at www.chattanoogayg.com, and look for updates as the gallery dates approach. Emails can be directed to info@chattanoogayg.com.