‘Fresh Eyes on Art’ features young Lambertville artists
PENNSBURY – When young folks pull their talents together, the results can be limitless.
Leigh Schreiber, 18, of Lower Makefield can attest to that based on the personal experience she had in her recent showcase of her friends’ artwork in a gallery.
The exhibit, “Fresh Eyes on Art”, was on view at the Community Art Gallery in The Bank of Princeton in Lambertville, N.J.
Schreiber, a 2013 Pennsbury graduate, said organizing the show helped her in many ways.
“I’ve gained a lot of experience as to adhering to deadline, communicating with people in a professional sense, but mostly I just learned that something awesome can be produced with collaboration,” Schreiber said.
She stressed that something greater would not have materialized if she had just done it on her own with only her work.
Schreiber showcased the talents of fellow Pennsbury graduates and other artists. The creations of 14 people were included in the exhibit.
Taylor Aulicino, Emilie Dzwonar, haren Dzwonar, Diana Gage, Emily Hwang, Anthea Morrow, Trisha Parasimo, Nate Philips, Cole nuinla, Victoria Schenck, Ben Schreiber, Leigh Schreiber, Hannah Sichel, Joan Sichel and Christine Trzcinski all participated in the show.
Schreiber described her friends’ style as diverse. She noted that many different kinds of media were represented in the show.
As for why she put the show together, it started out being something she and her mother, Ann, wanted to do as her own show.
“I have so many really talented friends, I would feel selfish if I didn’t include them,” she said. “I just felt their art is worth being showcased.”
Schreiber works in different media. She enjoys drawing with charcoal and colored pencil. Her photographs were her strongpoint at the show.
One of her pieces on display, Gilded Girl, was a picture of a girl blowing her hair around. To create that image, she used colored pencil, one of her favorites.
The assignment was to get a magazine clipping and recreate it to the best of your ability using colored pencils.
“It seemed like a simple task but it was really hard to do,” she said, noting that the girl is wearing “a bunch” of jewelry.
Schreiber’s artistic talents were so good at Pennsbury that she was assigned to the Art Major class. However, she intends to just make art a hobby. Her major at Washington University is undecided.
“It’s a class that is designed for students who want to go into art when they graduate,” she said. “It’s a portfolio-building class.”
She stressed that the art teachers at Pennsbury High School had a great influence on her: Tony Napoli, helly Washington, James Minton, Curtis May and Danielle Lala.
Melinda Wright, a member of Artists of Yardley, at tended the exhibit’s reception.
“The show was a great effort of recent graduates,” she said. “It was arranged and put together as well as many professional shows that I’ve seen with a great arrangement and variety of drawing, painting, photography, craft and sculpture.”
Wright said the opening was warm and welcoming.
“The show was vibrant and young because of the artists as well as the exciting work on the walls,” she commented. “Anyone of these young artists could pursue creative or artistic futures. There was some really impressive technique in drawing.”
Wright said the self-portraits were a great addition to the show. “That let us feel connected to those artists,” she said.
Minton, one of Schreiber’s art teachers at Pennsbury High School, said it is “phenomenal to see the work of the kids in a gallery environment -- especially the work of those done once they’ve gone out on their own.”
“It’s done by one of my students after he went onto college,” Minton said. “He’s a procrastinator, but that’s part of the curse of being a perfectionist. I know he’s going to major in something else, but I hope he never gives up his art. He’s a rare talent.”