COLUMN: Youth Art Month at the Colquitt County Arts Center

Published 4:29 pm Friday, March 6, 2020

March is one of my absolute favorite months of the year. I love March not only because it is the beginning of spring but because it is Youth Art Month. Youth Art Month was started in 1961 to increase community understanding and interest in art and art education. It is a nationwide movement and an all-around month long celebration of the visual arts. Here at the Arts Center we celebrate the arts 365 days of the year, but this month we have had some extra special celebrations.

We started off the month with the opening of the Youth Art Month exhibit. This exhibit is a selection of works from the art classes of Willie J. Williams Middle School, C.A. Gray Jr. High, CCHS, G.E.A.R., Colquitt Christian Academy, Horizons Academy, and R.B. Wright Elementary School. The talent present in our little town never ceases to amaze me, and I am always eager to see what our students have been working on. The school district winners are as followed by grade; 6th-7th Grades 1st Place is Surrounding by James Ballard, 2nd Place Untitled by Nylah Woods, and 3rd Place Cityspace by Jackson Haman, 8th-9th Grades 1st Place is Up, Down, Nightly by Alexandra Lorenzo-Alonso, 2nd Place Strawberry Patch by Alaina Campbell, and 3rd Awesome 80’s by Jennifer Gutierrez-Torres, 10th-12th Grades 1st Place is Untitled by Chloe Hill, 2nd Between Two Wolds by Jada Davies, and 3rd Self-Growth by Jasmine Mezquite and Best in Show goes to James Ballard for Surrounding. The Kiwanis winners are submitted for the Art and Music Showcase for the Georgia District of Kiwanis. The Kiwanis awards are as followed by grades; 6th Grade Reflections by Ella Spakman, 7th  Grade Surrounding by James Ballard, 8th Grade Don’t Bug Me Out by Emily Robinson, 9th Grade Eye See You by Phuc Phan, 10th Grade Untitled by Danielle Gibson, 11th Grade Help! by Isabella Barfield, 12th Grade Crusoe “The Kelpie” by Gabrielle Pilcher, and Best in Show Hero by Bo Greene. A big thank you to our art teachers Alisha Montgomery, Candy Clements, Whitney Pitts, Kim Greene, Ty Sutz, Harvie Ann Cox, and Cherry Yarbrough! Without your dedication and love of art this would not be possible. You ladies truly make an important impact on our students. I would also like to thank the Kiwanis Club of Moultrie for hosting the opening and making the night one that will be hard to forget!

As I said, we celebrate the arts here 365 days of the year, and next up on our schedule is an exhibit showcasing beautiful photographs by respected nature photographers from near and far, as well as illustrated texts and materials, this exhibit will help you discover the many fascinating ways bugs contribute to the arts. The Art of Bugs exhibit will be featured in our Vereen Gallery and oil painting artist Myra Hurst will be featured in our Traverse Gallery. The exhibits will be open on April 6, 2020 and will close June 19, 2020. 

For more information on workshops or classes as well as the multitude of other activities going on here at the Arts Center, feel free to give us a call at 229.985.1922, drop me a line at sunni.maccari@gmail.com, or visit our website at www.colquittcountyarts.com!