SWR students have work displayed at Long Island Museum
The artwork of four Shoreham-Wading River students has made it well beyond their parents’ refrigerator doors.
The students’ work has been chosen by art teachers to appear in the Long Island Museum’s exhibit “Colors of Long Island,” which runs through the end of the month. The annual exhibit, now in its 13th year, displays student artwork exclusively. The theme, “Colors of Long Island,” is interpreted by the artists through a variety of media. The work of at least 200 students appears in this year’s exhibit.
The museum, said spokesperson Julie Diamond, invites teachers across Long Island to submit student artwork, and all submissions are displayed. She said the exhibit was first created to connect with the community, especially students.
“Some of the students are extremely talented artists,” Ms. Diamond said. “The students can get their artwork exhibited in the museum, when they probably wouldn’t have that opportunity otherwise.”
Among the students with work in the show is Marchella Derdi, 12, a seventh-grader from Wading River. She made a collage depicting a falcon, in the style of the artist Eric Carle. She used paper she had made from acrylic, and watercolor paints. When she went to see the exhibit, she saw people huddling around her work.
“A lot of people were looking at it and I heard little comments,” she said. “They thought it was cool.”
Marchella said she wanted to take all art courses in college, and hopes her career one day will involve her passion, sketching.
Melissa Germain, 12, of Shoreham, also a seventh-grader, drew a self-portrait with oil pastels. For the background, she used cold colors like browns, blacks and greys, while she painted the portrait with warm yellows, reds and pinks. She loves to draw anime figurines, and she said the techniques for those drawings trickled into her self-portrait as she splashed shimmery tones over the irises of the eyes in the picture.
Shannon Gallagher, a senior, drew a charcoal still life of mechanical tools, and senior Shannon Baxter made an ink and collage still life of a shoe, hat and drapery.
Ruth Kisch, an art teacher at the high school, said public displays such as the “Colors of Long Island” exhibit can galvanize students’ creative powers and encourage them to continue their artistic efforts.
“It’s an opportunity to have their work seen by a broader audience,” Ms. Kisch said. “They get ideas from looking at other students’ work. It’s inspiring.”
The museum, at 1200 North Country Road in Stony Brook, is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
