FRIDLEY, Minn. – (Feb. 18, 2016) – Every February the Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts in Fridley becomes home to a very unique art exhibit. The gallery walls that are usually reserved for professional artists are taken over by hundreds of kids during the annual student art show. “Lots of color. It’s a really fun time of year when it’s not so bright and beautiful outside to come inside to our galleries to see color and inspiration and imagination on the walls. We have 656 works of art in the show this year which might be a record. We have to use almost every available space to be able to showcase it. You’re going to see work by kindergartners all the way up to twelfth graders from our local schools,” said Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts executive director Bethany Whitehead.
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With so many different pieces of art crammed onto every square inch of wall space visitors can enjoy the show multiple times and continue to have new experiences. “Because of the shear quantity of artwork, everyday I come into the gallery I see something new that I hadn’t noticed before just because your brain can’t take in 650 works of art very readily. It’s always something new,” said Whitehead. The students art show is also a showcase for the mind of a child that is many times much freer than an adult. “Kids can just interpret things that maybe us as adults have been told is the right way to do art, kids don’t necessarily have that ingrained in them yet so it’s really very imaginative and very inspired and very unique use of color and shape and line and really great,” said Whitehead.
All the art in this show is special but Whitehead does have her favorites. “There’s some portraits done by fingerprints by middle schoolers that are really really impressive. Their is a storytelling through a landscape painting that young elementary kids did that has been one of my favorites as well. I really like the portrait work by middle schoolers at Columbia Academy so just a lot of variety of fun inspirational things,” said Whitehead. The art show also gives visitors a glimpse at how the future could unfold under the next generation of thinkers, leaders and doers.
“Generally we are showing fine arts here in our galleries. Artists who have been professional artists for a number of years and this is a way to really encourage the next generation of those artists. To be able to have their work on view in a professional gallery. You can’t leave without smiling. You’re going to come into the space and be overwhelmed with the amount of artwork and if you take some time looking around, it’s just really joyful. It’s really going to leave you hopeful about the future because you have these young artists who obviously have great talent and interest in the arts and some artistic ability,” said Whitehead.
The students art show will be on display through March 5. The Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts is free to visit and is the perfect escape into a colorful and inspirational environment.
