Justin Maxwell Charlton, left, poses with Scott MacLachlan,interim provost and dean of student services
at Palm Beach Community College, Palm Beach Gardens.
Charlton’s drawing, Raphael’s Fighting Men,
won Best of Show in the school’s sudent art exhibition.
(Photo by Katie Deits)
By Katie Deits
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Art lovers have a few more days to see the annual student exhibition at Palm Beach Community College’s Eissey Campus in Palm Beach Gardens, which ends May 8.
This may be “student” art, but most of it would make any professional artist proud. Ranging from photography to painting and drawing to functional ceramics and sculpture, many pieces are also for sale. These pieces are one-of-a-kind, and include work by students of all ages, from dual-enrolled high schoolers to senior citizens.
The show was juried by Washington, D.C.-based artist Edward Pratt, who selected Raphael’s Fighting Men, a classical drawing by Justin Maxwell Charlton (a Drawing I student of Alessandra Gieffers), as the Best of Show. In his comments, Pratt said that he was impressed with the quality of the students’ work and stressed the importance of education in the arts.
The show opened April 14, when a crowd of nearly 100 people watched as the students received ribbons and cash awards. Several corporations, such as K & M Electric and Earl Stewart Toyota, offered cash awards. Sherry and Wayne Stephens presented an award in memory of their son Paul, and Beth Baker also presented a cash award.
Other student artists producing notable work included:
Fatima Hicks, with her painting, Moe’s Pears.(Photo by Katie Deits)
* North Palm Beach resident Fatima Hicks, who won first place in the painting category and a K&M Electric cash award for her watercolor, Moe’s Pears. Hicks created the work (priced at $300) in the Painting I class of Wayne Stephens.
Gregory Smith, with his watercolor, 2+2 = 5.(Photo by Katie Deits)
* Gregory Smith, a student in Gieffers’ Painting I class, received the Passion for the Arts-Robert Siddell Art Award, as well as an Art Alliance cash award, for his brightly colored geometric watercolor, 2 + 2 = 5. The painting sells for $300.
Instructor Sherry Stephens, left, with student Sunny Quinn,posing in front of Quinn’s photo, Wrong Turn.
(Photo by Katie Deits)
* Sunny Quinn won an award for a photograph called Wrong Turn (price: $60), which she created in the Digital Photography I class of Sherry Stephens.
Georgia Novotny, with her ceramic vessel, Out of the Ashes.(Photo by Katie Deits)
* Georgia Novotny, a student in the Ceramics I class of Justin Lambert, created a wood-fired vessel she titled Out of the Ashes. It’s priced at $500.
The Gallery at Palm Beach Community College is located in the BB Building at the Eissey Campus, 3160 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens. Hours are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.pbcc.edu/artgallerypbg.xml or call (561) 207-5015.