Teen Visions bring community art to Vassar

Orli Florsheim Guest Writer

Chloe McConnell Senior Editor

Contrasting somber hues and loud colors persuade the observer of Teen Vision ’08 to view scenes through the eyes of teenagers. The exhibit, which is currently being featured in the James W. Palmer III Gallery until Feb. 9, showcases 120 works of art by Poughkeepsie High School students from the Art Institute of Mill Street Loft.

The students’ artwork includes black and white photography, clay sculptures and oil paintings; the emotions expressed are as varied as the mediums.

“I like to show the beauty in our everyday world. Everything around us has something unique about [it] and I think that art is a wonderful way to express what that might be,” said Mill Street Loft student Ben Chipkin, who has two black and white photos and one acrylic painting in the exhibit.

“We try to select pieces that show the breadth of the program,” said Mill Street Loft Art Director Todd Poteet. “Pieces that have a unique vision or outstanding quality that truly demonstrate that high school students have a lot to say, no matter what their age or skill level.”

Minhee Bae’s “Monkey Girl” illustrates a young woman trapped behind bars, while Madeline Ouellette’s “Backstage at the Circus” shows a saddened clown masking his face with concealing make-up. The artwork conveys thematic undertones of alienation, miscommunication and self-consciousness, sentiments that are familiar to college and high school students alike.

While the primary purpose of Teen Visions is to give the students a venue where their work can be displayed and appreciated, the show is also there to benefit Vassar students.

“We would like it if Vassar students could realize that there’s a whole art community outside their campus gates,” Poteet said. “Poughkeepsie has a lot to offer.”

Mill Street Loft is a non-for-profit multi-arts education center in Poughkeepsie, which offers art classes and summer programs. The mission of the institute is to enhance human services through the arts so as to bring people together in a multicultural community. Mill Street has developed numerous programs that use the arts to unite students, local businesses and social groups.

This exhibit is being presented by Mill Street Loft in part to give their students both the confidence and the drive to continue in their artistic studies, while supplying a medium for the expression of teenage emotions and perspectives. “Art is a great tool to show emotion,” said Chipkin. “I enjoy producing art that makes me happy.”

“The Art Institute is constantly trying to help students, parents and teachers understand that art is a viable career, even though the arts are continually marginalized by our society,” Poteet said.
While Poteet said that some of his students’ parents work at Vassar and that Vassar students model for his art classes, as far as he knows, those are the only community ties between the High School students and the College.

Teresa Quinn, Vassar’s Executive Director of Campus Activities and Mill Street Loft board member, agrees that “[Teen Visions] absolutely works to foster community.”

Poteet designed the show and selected artwork from the overall body of 5,000 pieces produced by Mill Street Loft students. “So often [our students] create work and don’t get to hear the public approval,” Poteet said. “It’s not like a play where you get to hear the applause. This show gives them the opportunity to realize that their efforts have paid off.”

Quinn believes that this exhibit will fortify connections between Poughkeepsie teenagers and Vassar students. “I hope that Vassar students come through the gallery and reflect on their experiences, where they are now, and where they’re going to be,” she said. When Vassar students observe the pieces, she wants them to recollect high school experiences so as to better understand the students’ motivations for their pieces.

“The interpretation of an art work is up to the viewer,” said Chipkin, “there is no right or wrong way to see something.”

—Additional reporting by Elizabeth Pacheco ’10