Enough of the pandemic already, let’s make art.
Students from The Akron School for the Arts at Firestone Community Learning Center welcome you to an exhibition of work made during the most unusual of school years.
On view are pieces from junior level students and as such are developing as young artists through exploration of media, technique, concept, design and independent inquiry. Students have provided a brief statement regarding their thought process or working style.
All artists grow through an exploratory process, but also with guidance and suggestions from objective viewers. Please feel free to offer comments and suggestions to the students.
For the second time this year the Summit ArtSpace is hosting an exhibition of artwork from the Akron School for the Arts junior and IB visual art classes. The show opens, Saturday, March 6, and runs through Sat., March 27 in the Transition Gallery. Hours of operation are Saturdays 11-5 PM
If you are interested in purchasing any artwork from this exhibition please contact Heather Meeker.
Andra Benninghoff
It Starts in Serenity
(Piece 1/3 – Caffeine Series)
Colored Pencil, watercolor, cut paper
NFS
Caffeine starts as a treat, a taste to start the day. Waking up with the world and a cup, open skies and bright eyes.
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Shivering Company in Mania
(Piece 2/3 – Caffeine Series)
Colored Pencil, watercolor, cut paper, foam board
NFS
Seeping into the skin, popping in the eyes, caffeine shivers the soul and shakes the mind in its restless extreme. The pinnacle of energy, somehow inhibiting the exact purpose it was meant to serve.
_______________________
Double Downered
(Piece 3/3 – Caffeine Series)
Colored Pencil, watercolor, cut paper, foam board
NFS
The fall is a steep incline below even the starting level. Caffeine erupts in the mind then fizzles away leaving nothing behind but the quixotic idea of what it was meant to be only moments before.
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The New Soldiers
(Piece 1/4 – Caffeine Cards)
Digital Work
The new army runs on cheap coffee and motor oil steeped tea. The work force turns the wheel like hamsters, chugging to sustain themselves.
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Oh Beans
(Piece 2/4 – Caffeine Cards)
Digital Work
The daily drug, the morning cup.
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What Could Be
(Piece 3/4 – Caffeine Cards)
Digital Work
Staring into the cup the promise of what it can bring stares right back.
_______________________
Tea Leaves
(Piece 4/4 – Caffeine Cards)
Digital Work
Perhaps the leaves mean much more than the caffeine they hold.
_______________________
Back of the Caffeine Cards
Digital Work
_______________________
Temple of Narcissus
Graphite
NFS
Me, and me, and me, and me, in two point perspective.
_______________________
Moth Movement
Cut paper, colored pencil
NFS
The cecropia moth shakes its wings after emerging from the cocoon to dry off their wings. The slow exit from the cocoon juxtaposes the fast burst of flapping wings.
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Playing the Game
Charcoal
NFS
The world is precariously stacked on the roll of the dice, but life dances delightedly on chance.
_______________________
Still Life in the Dark
White pencil on black paper
NFS
My mother’s tea cups, my father’s gin, my music; my world.
_______________________
Indecision
Watercolor, black and white cut paper
NFS
Stuck between the two, stuck not knowing who.
_______________________
Objectify
Watercolor
NFS
If that is all that’s seen, I’ll remove it all entirely.
Elliott Carter
His Name is Garbage.
Polymer clay and acrylic paint
_______________________
Self Portrait, Quarantine
Acrylic on Canvas
_______________________
From What I Remember
Acrylic on Canvas
Jaxx Cheline
Lazy Boy Abstracted
Media Acrylic paint on paper
$35
The artist’s goal was to look at an everyday object in a different light. See what parts you recognize in the abstraction.
_______________________
Snapshots
Acrylic on paper
$10 each
The snapshots are quick paintings done in the moment to express a feeling or commemorate a memory.
_______________________
School Scraps
Mixed media on paper
$5
This is the artist exploring his school experiences in a visual and loose form.
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Follow the Eye
Mixed Media on paper
$5
This zine isn’t exploring a specific topic but rather an outlet to just make something fun the artist has worked on over the course of a few years.
Cassia Chivers
Losing Your Mind Because of “It”
Heavy acrylic on canvas
NFS
The stylistic choices of this piece are meant to convey the feeling of being disoriented and awkward. There is a term known as phosphene, which is when you see fuzzy floating colors when you close your eyes. These colors are more noticeable when you close your eyes tightly from stress. The hues in this piece are based off of the colors that can be most easily visible.
_______________________
Barren
Heavy acrylic on cardboard
NFS
The scraped-on colors for this piece are meant to convey the same feeling as static on an old vhs tape. You slowly lose yourself in the monotonous static of everything moving around you.
_______________________
Tentacles
Light acrylic on canvas
NFS
An abstract take on jellyfish and their movement.
_______________________
A Collection of Dust
Heavy/light acrylic on black construction paper
A still life of objects that have been in my life for as long as I can remember.
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Photography
Ava Gerber
Weeds
Photography
NFS
I loved how colorful the plants were and I wanted to find a way to really make them the focus of the piece. The model in the photo really blended with the colors nicely and made them stand out
Cori Harper
Life is a Walk in the Park
Canvas, acrylic paint, white pen
NFS
What I strive to be doing sometime in the near future, which is hopefully taking a cakewalk with my beloved pet.
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Life is a Walk in the Park II
Canvas, acrylic paint, white pen
NFS
Spending quality time with myself after an excruciating exam week.
Toni Harper
Basquiat x Picasso
Acrylic Paint
NFS
My purpose for making this piece was to combine the styles of my favorite two artists, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Pablo Picasso into one synchronous design.
Stella Hudson
Elliott In Her Element
Acrylic and paint marker
NFS
This piece was extracted from a photo at one of Elliott’s performances. I wanted to emphasize her punk style.
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Elliott In Her Element
Acrylic and paint marker
NFS
People born in August have the zodiac sign, Leo. Leos are represented by Lions. Sometimes their big personalities and egos can prey on other aspects of their life.
_______________________
Elliott In Her Element
Acrylic and paint marker
NFS
Figures in christianity in the Middle Ages that were considered to be “holy” or saints often had some sort of arch surrounded their head. Leo’s confidence and often big personality seem to sense of importance and confidence to themselves.
Meg Jenkins
Arrival
Acrylic on wood
NFS
This piece is about childhood memories that are fuzzy and far away
_______________________
Acknowledgement
Acrylic on wood
NFS
This piece is about looking back on my childhood
_______________________
Acceptance
Acrylic on wood
NFS
This piece is about accepting what I am unsure about
Jacqueline Kist
A Different Kind of Connection
Acrylic on canvas
NFS
Last year certainly looked different due to the pandemic, and although I wasn’t able to visit my friends and family in the same ways that I was used to, we still managed to find creative ways to connect with one another. For example, my friends and I started writing letters back and forth from the start of the pandemic, which is what I am shown in the process of doing in this piece. It was a small way to connect and stay in touch with others during the odd time, and I was grateful for the development of a sweet tradition.
_______________________
Serenity
Block printing ink on multi-media paper
NFS
Small familiar places of refuge allow people to escape to and relax, and I wanted to create a piece that displayed a space that felt serene. My goal was to exhibit a small area in a room that felt calm, safe, and full of life by using peaceful cool colors, such as different shades of green and a soft blue. Windows often provide calming views to the outside world and to nature, so I included one in my composition, along with three lively green plants for comfort.
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Tranquility
Block printing ink on multi-media paper
NFS
Following the goal of my first piece in this series, “Tranquility,” I wanted to create a space that appeared quiet, safe, and serene, allowing viewers to feel a sense of peace and refuge within it. A large window offers a familiar, calming view of a blue sky with curtains hanging gently from it’s frame, which adds softness and comfort to the scene along with a matching tablecloth. I hoped that the inclusion of an arrangement of a small table, a chair, and a vase holding blooming flowers within my composition would display a lovely, friendly, and restful setting.
Alexander Knorr
Exie Manahan
Katie Morehouse
Cataclysm
Acrylic paint with recycled milk caps and newspaper
$45
A visual depiction of emotion towards a traumatic experience or an episode of distress. It feels as if your world is exploding to pieces and there is nothing you can do except watch it burn.
_______________________
Mending
Acrylic paint with recycled milk caps
$55
This piece resembles trying to find yourself again after a slip in life, whether it’s a life experience or simply an emotion. You are slowly weaving little parts back together to make yourself whole again .
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Bloom
Acrylic paint with recycled milk caps, newspaper, string, and ballpoint pen
$65
This piece describes the feelings you get when you reach a long-term goal, or when a moment in time brightens up your life. You act as if you’re on top of the world, blooming with new life.
Abby Rambler
The Infamous Diary of Marian in Red
Colored pencil, pen, gift wrap and other recycled paper
NFS
There might be – in some post apocalyptic, dystopian reflection, a person who lives in a room full of only red things. They may have made these drawings to play at what the outside world looks like, or maybe Abby did. Poets are liars by profession.
_______________________
Write It On The Back Of Your Hand
Fabric, acrylic paint, and gouache paint
NFS
These banners were made respectively in early October and late February. They say challenge the sets of “normal” everyday – keep your signs up all year, tell everyone about the books you have read, run far with your words.
For the pink banner:
Words derivative of Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power” (1989)
For red banner:
Words from Diane Di Prima’s poem, “Revolutionary Letter #2” (1971)
_______________________
I Don’t Think Love is Big Enough a Word (series of 6 prints)
Linocut
10 dollars each
OR will trade for any amount of old photographs you can supply
The linoleum blocks were initially carved last August. I wrote the word “wonderstand” in my sketchbook two years ago. I think that’s important.
Sydney Stevenson
Ruth Bader Ginsberg
Linoleum print
Piece on display- $15
Additional copies- $10
This piece was made to honor the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Her work as a Supreme Court Justice, jurist, and lawyer will forever impact gender equality in our nation.
_______________________
Stacy Abrams
Linoleum print
Piece on display- $15
Additional copies- $10
Stacy Abrams is a voting rights activist and lawyer who increased voter turnout in Georgia during the 2020 election. She was influential in making Georgia blue for the first time in 26 years along with helping democrats win the Senate.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Linoleum print
Piece on display- $15
Additional copies- $10
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a U.S. Representative of New York’s 14th Congressional District. In her short time as a Congresswoman (a little over a year), she has increased public housing, increased food/COVID supplies for those in need, and put an amendment in place that aids climate change along with the inequalities within the economy (Green New Deal). She has presented more amendments her first year than almost all new congressmen/women.
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The Ideal Form
Linoleum print
Piece on display- $12
Additional copies- $6
This piece is a representation of how we view our own bodies compared to others. The third figure is a representation of our own body and the other three are an ideal form.
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Societal Standards
Linoleum print
Piece on display- $12
Additional copies- $6
This piece symbolizes the view society holds on plus-size women, who are often body-shamed or even referred to as “pigs.”
_______________________
Johnny Cash
Ink on paper
NFS
_______________________
Rage Becomes the Machine
Ink on paper
NFS
Elena Varner Waltz
Light
Ink on Paper
This piece is my interpretation of light being used in terms of good and evil and that one should always strive (or reach) for good/light.
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Hell & High Water (3 piece series)
Ink on Paper
These pieces were inspired by Marian Bantjes and Rachel Ruysch. (Bantjes’s line work and Ruysch’s contrast between light and dark~my interpretation) Each of the pieces deals with an aspect of myself that I have had to come to terms with.
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Vanitas
Acrylic Paint
Vanitas pieces are pieces that show the eventuality of death and the passing of time. Here I have used various items in my house to show this: The skeleton hand represents human mortality and the passing of time, the ring on the finger is mine and it shows how it no longer fits on the finger now that it is just bone, the corsage is the one I wore to homecoming, the flowers are now dead signifying that the event is over, the books are both by dead authors, but their work is still known/used to this day.
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(Untranslatable Words) (3 Piece series)
Acrylic Paint and Photography
These are pieces based off of words that describe feelings that are “untranslatable”.
Piece 1 (Hands and Planets)– Title: Kalpa (Sanskrit): [n.] The passing of time on a grand cosmological scale.
Piece 2 (Broken Mirror)- Title: Wabi Sabi (Japanese): [n.] Finding beauty in the imperfections, an acceptance of the cycle of life and death.
Piece 3 (Photograph with white Gel pen)- Title: Saudade (Portuguese): [n.] A vague constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist, a nostalgia/longinging for someone or something loved then lost.
Hallie VonGunten
Sarah Tausz
You aren’t what you eat
Graphite, ink on receipts
_______________________
0100
collage
_______________________
0010
collage
Jade Snead
Koi!
Oil Paint
NFS
As my first experiment with oil paint, I chose to paint koi fish flowing through a pond, as I felt the subject matched the fluidity of the media.
_______________________
Who are we?
Acrylic
NFS
As part of a series about aspects of growing up, this piece represents what it’s like for me to see changes in myself physically and mentally, and fumble through the process of forming my own identity as a young adult.
_______________________
Who are you looking at? I don’t know either
Acrylic
NFS
Stemming from the idea of forming an identity and being unfamiliar with myself, I tried to show a relatively unclear portrait of myself (that was purposely painted without any reference other than what I think my features look like in my head) surrounded by judgmental glares.
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Untitled
Ink Pen
NFS
Attempts at using the shapes of lines to create an abstract sense of depth and movement.
See the Summit Artspace exhibit schedule for show details.
Have questions? Here is our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Please Note: All exhibits are subject to becoming virtual at our website, summitartspace.org, due to the global pandemic.
