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JURIED ART EXHIBITION SHOWCASES WORKS BY BUCKS AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
Winners Announced for 22nd Annual “Touch the Future” Art Exhibition Sponsored by the Pennsylvania State Education Association, Mideastern Region
Montgomeryville, Pa. – February 2, 2009 - The 22nd annual “Touch the Future” Student Art Exhibit, sponsored by the Mideastern Region of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (MER/PSEA), opened to the public Sunday, Feb. 1 with a reception and awards ceremony honoring three best of show winners, 14 best of category winners, two PSEA purchase prize winners and a juror’s prize at the Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, Pa.
This year’s show saw 875 submissions from 22 public high schools in Bucks and Montgomery counties. There were 209 pieces chosen for the exhibit in categories that included printmaking, painting, digital imaging/computer graphics, sculpture, and more.
“Originality, versatility and imagination are the best words to describe the powerful and accomplished works by the exceptional group of students in this year’s PSEA exhibition,” said Carmina Cianciulli, assistant dean for admissions for Tyler School of Art, Temple University, who judged the show. “The work submitted was of such high quality overall that the selection process was especially difficult. There were so many outstanding pieces that I felt compelled to establish an additional prize,” she said about the juror’s prize that is being awarded for the first time this year.
The annual event began as a memorial to NASA’s “teacher in space,” Christa McAuliffe, whose motto was “I touch the future…I teach.” The exhibit not only allows students the opportunity to participate in a professionally juried show, but also showcases the dedication to the visual arts and the sophisticated level of teaching and student talent evident throughout Bucks and Montgomery county public schools.
The event is chaired by art teachers Lynne Pribis of Upper Dublin High School, Joanne Harris of North Penn High School, Ian Williams of Wissahickon High School and Connie Berger of Cheltenham High School. “The combination of great art educators and the students' innate talent enables them to produce some amazing art, equivalent to that of a professional artist,” Pribis said. “We're thrilled to share it with the community thanks to the gracious support of the Abington Art Center that is hosting the event in their spacious gallery.”
The exhibition is open to the public through Sunday, Feb. 22, free-of-charge, during gallery hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; closed on Monday. The Abington Art Center is located at 515 Meetinghouse Road, Jenkintown, PA. For directions, please visit http://abingtonartcenter.org. For further information, contact 1-800-492-2727 during business hours.
Winners by county are as follows (with best of show, juror’s prize, and purchased prize winners highlighted with an asterisk and underlined):
Bucks County
* Central Bucks East High School
Morgan Bloomfield, PSEA Purchase Prize – Traditional Silver Print Photograph (Instructor - Erin Pond)
Council Rock High School North
Monta Que Ruffin, Best of Category - Painting/ Acrylic/Oil/Watercolor
(Instructor - Lynne McDowell)
Council Rock High School South
Elizabeth Ku, Best of Category - Color Drawing
(Instructor - Martha Taylor)
* Pennridge High School
Samantha Schultz, 1st Place Best of Show and PSEA Purchase Prize
(Instructor - Patty Knott)
Pennsbury High School
Colleen Duffy, Best of Category - Digital Photography
(Instructor - Jim Minton)
Nikita Parikh, Best of Category - 3D Mixed Media Sculpture
(Instructor - Curtis May)
Montgomery County
Methacton High School
Jennifer Walters, 3rd Place Best of Show
(Instructor - Beth Hall)
Hatboro Horsham High School
Hannah Silcox, Best of Category - Digital Imaging/Computer Graphics
(Instructor - Russel Coleman)
Lower Merion High School
Niklas Thompson, Best of Category - Jewelry/Metals
(Instructor - Harriet Ackerman)
Lower Moreland High School
Lauren Rachlin, Best of Category - 3-D Functional
(Instructor - Angela Sweigart)
North Penn High School
Arielle Coupe, Best of Category – Printmaking
(Instructor - Joanne Harris)
Springfield High School
Elizabeth Kripke, Best of Category - Fiber-Crafts
(Instructor - Chris Houston)
Jill Armington, Best of Category - 3D Single Medium Sculpture
(Instructor - Mark Kobasz)
Upper Dublin High School
Lindsay Randall, Best of Category - B & W Drawing
(Instructor - Lynne Pribis)
Sydney Steinberg, Best of Category - Traditional Silver Print
(Instructor - Steve Hopkins)
Grace Hwang, Best of Category - 2-D Design
(Instructors - Jen Tulli/ Lynne Pribis)
* Wissahickon High School
Anthony Privitera, 2nd Place Best of Show – Painting
(Instructor - David Miller)
* Chris Panettieri, Juror’s Prize
(Instructor - David Miller)
Jake Taylor, Best of Category - 2D Mixed Media
(Instructor - David Miller)
MER/PSEA is comprised of the 42 local teacher associations that represent more than 16,000 public school educators in Bucks and Montgomery counties.
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