24th Annual "Touch the Future" Art Show
The community is invited to experience the finest artistic talents of local public high school students at the 24th annual “Touch the Future” art show - sponsored by the Mideastern Region of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (MER/PSEA) and the Council for the Advancement of Public Schools (CAPS). Open to the public from Feb. 5 through Feb. 27, an awards reception is planned for Sunday, Feb. 13 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., with awards presented at 2 p.m. The juried show, which highlights the extraordinary works of art from students in Bucks and Montgomery counties, will be held this year at the Abington Art Center.
The annual competition began as a memorial to Christa McAuliffe, NASA’s “teacher in space,” whose motto was “I touch the future…I teach.” This year’s judge will be Carmina Cianciulli, assistant dean for admissions, Tyler School of Art, Temple University.
“I’m pleased to have the opportunity to judge the exhibition once again,” Cianciulli said. “I have seen some wonderful pieces at previous shows and am expecting the same level of sophistication from this year’s participants. I’m sure it will once again be a welcome challenge to pick the winners.”
Highly-coveted honors will include a “best of show” prize along with second and third place runners-up, two PSEA Purchase Prizes, a “juror’s prize” and a winner from the following categories: printmaking, jewelry/metals, fiber crafts, 2-D mixed media, digital imaging/computer graphics, traditional silver print, painting – acrylic/oil/watercolor, drawing – black & white, color drawing, 3-D functional, 3-D single medium sculpture, 3-D mixed media sculpture, 2-D design and digital photography. Each art teacher in the two counties may submit up to 10 entries and 27 schools are expected to participate in this year’s show. Prize money totaling $1,900 has been donated by MER/PSEA and the organization will also provide compensation to students who agree to sell their artwork to the organization for permanent display in the region offices.
Chairpersons of the 24th annual event are art teachers Lynne Pribis of Upper Dublin High School, Joanne Harris of North Penn High School and Connie Berger of Cheltenham High School. “We’re thrilled to have our students participate in this great show once again,” Pribis said. “It’s such a joy to see the talent and promise of our students in Bucks and Montgomery counties and the impact of their teachers.”
“The community is in for a treat from our very talented students,” said Jim Sando, president of the Mideastern Region. “We are honored to host this show and provide the opportunity for community residents to see what public school art education provides for our children. Today, when budgets are especially tight, we hope the community will recognize that education in the arts is critical to a well-rounded education.”
The exhibition will be open to the public through Sunday, Feb. 27, free-of-charge, during gallery hours: Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thurs., 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sat. & Sun., 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Abington Art Center is located at 515 Meetinghouse Road in Jenkintown. For more information on the center, please call 215-887-4882 or visit www.abingtonartcenter.org.
View the list of winners and some photos of winning artwork.
