Students get down with art

The long, sterile hallways of a local administrative building now echo with the creativity of area pupils whose brightly colored masks, paintings, weavings and collages were unveiled to the community at a reception Monday.

The display is part of the annual Visions Art Show at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ central office, the Lincoln Center.

The center will host an open house at 5:30 p.m. today.

“Visions Show is an opportunity for the community to have an eye into students and how they work with theme and medium and the level of craftsmanship they put into their work,” said Peggy McGill, an East Chapel Hill High School art teacher.

McGill said she selected senior Kathryn Pegg’s unique painting for the show because her depiction of a man awash in blue and held down by a chain to the vibrant, green Earth was particularly striking in its conceptual underpinnings and in its imagery.

“Life can hold you down or you can be inspired by life,” Pegg said, describing the theme behind her painting.

She said she was inspired by a biology class project she did about depression.

“I decided to change the colors all around because people associate depression with different shades of blue,” Pegg said.

She said she hopes her painting and its colors illustrate the disorder so others can identify with her ideas and feelings on the issue.

The art display features hundreds of other works from students in the district, depicting everything from cats, stars and moons to harps on mountains.

“I think it’s pretty cool, and at least it brightens up the hall,” said Denise Buckley, a budget analyst for city schools who works in the office.

The artwork is beneficial for both adults and children, some say, as it provides a learning opportunity for the students and helps enliven the office’s general atmosphere.

“Really, to the people who work here, it provides that center for why we’re here,” said Josephine Harris, the district’s director of special programing.

“We’re here for the children.”

Parent Eva Monteongo was impressed by the imagination exhibited in the show, which included a work created by her daughter, as she browsed the halls of the Lincoln Center on Wednesday.

“She was so excited because she was chosen to be in the Visions Show,” she said.

“I think it’s very good, because it improves the children to get their artwork in this kind of event.”

Harris said this year marks the first time that all the district’s work could fit into one exhibit since its conception about 15 years ago.

About 200 to 300 people flock to the open houses of the show every year, she added, prompting this year’s decision to hold two receptions.

“We have so much support for the arts in the community,” she said.

The display will remain up until May 23.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.