Teens Exhibit Work at Pelham Art Center

Thirty-three Pelham teens hit the big time on Saturday when their artwork debuted at the Pelham Art Center for the launch of a weeklong exhibit.

After a year of planning between Pelham Memorial High School art teacher Gail Orfei and the Pelham Art Center, students, teachers, parents and friends came out to celebrate the kick off of this two-dimensional display. The students featured are juniors and seniors at PMHS in Orfei’s advanced art and Advanced Placement studio art classes. AP students are required to choose a concentration and submit a portfolio to the College Board at the end of the year, which they have been building for quite a few years.

“They have to try it all in order to find what their thing is, so to speak,” Orfie said.

The pieces featured in the show were selected from several assignments the students completed. With broad subject matter and different mediums, the students' pieces cover juxtaposition, observational style, spontaneity themed, observational plus imaginative, and architecture illustration, to name a few. A plethora of materials are used in the classroom including ink, pastel, graphite, mixed media, collage, watercolor, and colored pencil. The students are encouraged to try as many methods as possible.

One student who has more than found her “thing” is Mia White who has focused on skulls as her portfolio concentration. It’s easy to mistake White’s color-pencil “Thai Mask,” which was chosen for the exhibit, for an oil painting. The vibrantly colored mask contrasts starkly with the organic beauty of the skull.

White will be attending the Rhode Island School of Design next year.

The following students’s work are currently are display at the Pelham Art Center: Sarah Albanese- Treland, Emily Alletto, Emily Bennett, Latanya Buckham, Brian Buckley, Evelyn Burgess, Clara Chang, Quincy Darbyshire, Sophia DiVitto, Jaclyn Diffley, Tessa Dikkers, Lily DiPaola, Ann Dwyer, Caroline Eicher, Carli Finamore, Caroline Fink, Maria Gardon, Alexandra Hamlin, Margaret Hoare, Elena Joffroy, Clara Kim, Hollis Kran, Anya LaRoche, Nicole McCaine, Bushra Mian, Alyssa Miceli, Joshua Morgan, Nicolette Nesi, Phoebe Pinder, Ariel Saura, Marisa Sciortino, Michael Tellone, Mia White. 

The Pelham Art Center is currently accepting applications for its $500 arts scholarship for one graduating PMHS senior. All forms of visual art are eligible, and it does not matter if the student learned the discipline at PMHS or outside of school. To apply for the scholarship, fill out the application and submit it to the front desk of the Pelham Art Center by 5 p.m. on April 13.

The display runs through Saturday April 10. The gallery is located at 155 Fifth Ave. and open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and
 Saturday, 12 p.m.-4 p.m.