Awards Galore at Artspace Student Exhibit

Deerfield artists took top honors at the gallery’s awards ceremony on January 29. In the drawing category, Mulrow took first place with her self-portrait in charcoal pencil, and Holmberg’s Vessels took third.

The photographers also dominated in their section, with Simmons’ Bicycle Vine and Adkins’ Mortality taking first and second place, respectively. Gregory was awarded first prize in the Mixed Media category for her collage entitled Hannah.

Eight Deerfield art students were selected to show their pieces in the annual Teen Art Exhibit, hosted by Artspace Community Arts Center in Greenfield.

Local professional artists judged the works in each category: drawing, painting, photography, prints, assemblage/mixed media, and sculpture, and Best in Show. Representing Deerfield this year were Harley Brown ’10, Eloise McEniry ’10, Jen Mulrow ’10, Nastassia Adkins ’11, Hannah Dancer ’11, Lizzy Gregory ’11, Sonja Holmberg ’11, and Porter Simmons ’12.

Deerfield Fine Arts teachers David Dickinson and Tim Trelease had the challenge of choosing eight works to enter the competition. Mr Trelease explained that they “tried to spread out the type of artwork,” submitting an equal number of pieces for each category. They chose early on and Mr. Trelease said, “If the show were to take place now, we would have many more works to choose from.”

Mr. Trelease said the selection process was difficult, as there was a vast array of quality pieces from which to choose. “We picked works by exceptional artists, but there are so many more exceptional artists at Deerfield that could have won awards. It’s remarkable how many talented and dedicated students there are in the arts at Deerfield.”

After much deliberation, they decided to submit four photographs taken by Adkins, Brown, McEniry, and Simmons, thus dividing the submissions equally among photographs and rendered pieces. The photographs by Adkins and Dancer have limited color palettes, while those by Brown and Simmons feature bold, vivid colors.

The four pieces of non-photographic art are varied in their subject matter, medium, and execution. Half of the works are portraits, while the other half are still-life pieces. Like the photography submissions, two of the four are in full color, while the other two consist of subdued palettes.

While ceremony attendees and visitors were impressed by all of Deerfield’s submissions, Jen Mulrow’s piece drew a particularly noticeable amount of attention. Her piece, Self Portrait, earned her the Best in Show award.

“It’s really nice for students to get recognition,” Mr. Trelease said, “and it’s really nice to raise awareness in the community that quality work is being produced.”

Although the exhibition ended February 12; pictures of the works featured in the show are on the online gallery on DAnet.