Students show art talents

One hundred and seventy-five youth from kindergartners to seniors participated in this year's Sanders County Arts Council Art on the Walls Student Show in the Main Street Hallway at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital.

The Arts Council and hospital, which co-sponsors the show, hosted a reception in the hospital lobby Thursday to kick off the student exhibit, which will be up until March 27.

"It never ceases to amaze me how much talent we have in our communities from kindergarten to high school," said Carla Neiman, the hospital's chief financial officer. More than 60 people showed up at Thursday evening's reception. Students from Plains High School's consumer sciences class provided snacks for the reception. Neiman said the art exhibit is good for the hospital staff and patients alike.

It took Art Council members Joy Nelson, Arlene Littlefield, and Ilene Paulsen about 2½ hours to set up the display earlier that day. The Art Council exhibits four shows a year with the students doing their exhibit in January.

"I just love this show. I think the kids' shows are always the best," said Lores Porter, who has attended nearly every Art on the Walls reception since it began 12 years ago. The student shows didn't begin until 2009. The idea was to show off local talent and to help patients there take their minds off their medical problems.

"I think it's inspirational for the patients and it's something the hospital employees look forward to, and it adds so much color to our walls," said Tonya Revier, the hospital's Marketing and Community Relations coordinator. Revier's two children, Jackson and Palmer, both Plains Elementary School students, have art in the show this year.

Students from Noxon and Plains schools, as well as three home school children – Case Johnson, Hannah G. Jones, and Hannah Rose Warnes – participated in the art show this year, showing a wide range of subjects and art mediums. Polar bears and snowmen seemed to dominate the walls with 28 pieces coming from four elementary school classes. What looked like a wild hair day for a group of second grade students was actually a "Mind Blown" art project.

But there was only one piece that depicted alien life forms in a light bulb. It was a acrylic painting entitled "My Representation of the Night We Broke the Moon" by Gavin Nadeau of Noxon High School. Noxon had three seventh-graders and seven high school students in the show with 15 pieces, including Kendra Torti, a high school student who put a $1,000 price tag on her acrylic painting entitled "Magnified Beauty," the highest of the 27 students that decided to sell their work at the show. Artists may sell their pieces, but the hospital and council get a percentage of the sale. Plains High School ninth-grader Rylee Gannarelli had three photographs for $1 apiece.

It will be the last Art on the Walls show for Plains High School senior Malachi Paulsen, whose "Leafy Lion," a 3-D African lion made out of dried leaves, paper mache, beads, and hand-carved sharp wooden teeth drew a lot of attention. His mother, Ilene Paulsen, was the People's Choice winner for last quarter, winning with a lion depiction painting called "He Reigns."

Plains School art teacher Kristen Cole said she was proud of the work by her students. One of the more unique pieces in the show was that of senior Molly Carter, who created a 3-D button and acrylic project called "Family," a deer buck and a doe together, made from 239 buttons individually placed to form the two deer. "I did it because family is important and when I look at buttons it reminds me of family coming together as a whole," said Carter, who added that she used to hate art but now finds it fun.

Cole said that this is the first year that she has had a photography class; 16 of her students entered their photos in the exhibit.

"I think this is the best quality we've had from the students, especially the upper elementary kids," said Joy Nelson, vice president of the Arts Council.