St. Luke’s Senior Art Exhibition 2020

Spring is an excellent time to not only look forward to better weather and more recreational time with friends and family, but also a time for our seniors to look back upon their accomplishments while here at St. Luke’s. Senior Art students traditionally have the opportunity to install multiple works of their creation on gallery walls, effectively creating a group show consisting of several smaller shows. These artists spent time reflecting on their work and curated a carefully selected series of their favorite images to share with our community.
 

Splendid in its diversity and excellence, this year’s online exhibition features everything from drawings and paintings to graphic design and photography. Each artist has chosen a small number of works to represent their interests, and their insights and statements on their work assist us in appreciating their craft.
 

Anna Raleigh’s work is diverse in both medium and subject. She begins with colorful images documenting a working waterfront and urban life, then transitions to strong, gorgeously composed images of the natural world, capturing a bee in mid-flight, floral life by a small waterfall, and snow resting on pine trees. Anna’s diverse talents are also displayed through her studies of arctic flora, which are rendered in amazing intricacy. From the luscious petals of the Tufted Saxifrage to the delightfully playful roots of the Arctic Groundsel, these graphite and watercolor images are as fascinating horticulturally as they are beautiful to study with the eye.

Bear Crystal’s carefully rendered still life images, with shadows woven from complex crosshatch textures and expertly blended graphite, demonstrate an impeccable sensitivity to and understanding of light and shadow.
 

Chuck Clemons’ bold designs delight the senses with their use of color and their celebratory nature. There is no mistaking what is important to Chuck, as his work invites us to be as invested in his subjects as he is. Chuck’s work grabs our attention with its boldness, then keeps our attention with its detail and joyous compositions.
 

Emma Scanlan provides us with a privileged view of life backstage at a dance company. She captured the camaraderie necessary in such a disciplined art form – the physical exertion, tireless work, and devotion to craft. These images allow us to witness that graceful ballet, where dancers seem to glide dreamily across the stage and through the air, requires a tremendous amount of work in order to appear so effortless.
 

Abbey O’Meara’s photographs capture the world around us, including cautionary tales of our negative impacts upon nature. Her images of six-pack beverage rings from a series about the pollution of our oceans are beautiful formal compositions, startling and sad as their implications may be. Her excellent compositional skills provide us with other images where people have worked within the landscape to create a complimentary contrast between the order of fences and windows and the freeness of the surrounding flora.
 

Brody Menzies’ series of work begins with the beauty of our natural world, then moves towards a study of the structures of our daily lives, whether those structures are literal, such as windows and brightly colored roadside signs, or interpersonal relationships. The artist’s sense of perspective allows us to be right there beside him in these images, partaking of the joy and wonder within each carefully composed image.
 

We are fortunate to be among artists who help us understand the world around us a little bit better. Through their appreciation and reimagining of the physical matter that makes up our surroundings and our daily lives, these artists excel at presenting their thoughts and opinions through their carefully crafted works of Art. Because of their endeavors, our lives are richer and our thoughts more mindful and appreciative of all that surrounds us.