Art and Social Justice, Artist as Teacher art exhibits

March is Youth Art Month!  Through an ongoing partnership between the Howard County Public School System and the Howard County Arts Council, the annual spring exhibit of student artwork opens on March 11th at the Howard County Center for the Arts in Ellicott City.  

This year’s Youth Art Month exhibit, titled Art & Social Justice, features hundreds of works by students grades K-12 and is on view in Gallery I.  In Gallery II, work by HCPSS Faculty is on display in Artist as Teacher: HCPSS Faculty Show.  

 Both exhibits will be open from March 11 to April 22, 2011.  A free public reception including beverages and snacks, and a 2011 Visual and Performing Arts Summer Camp Preview will be held on Friday, April 1st, from 5-7 pm.

Art and Social Justice will fill Gallery I with artwork chosen from public school art classes across the county reflecting the title theme. The students work in a range of mediums including sculpture, collage, painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and fabric arts.

Artist as Teacher: HCPSS Faculty Show features works by Jocelyn Bocchino, Gino Molfino, Jennifer Smith and Susan Van Eseltine. Bocchino’s bold, abstract paintings reflect the continuing changes in our lives.  

Molfino’s black and white portraits closely examine four sisters. Smith’s mixed media colleges are bright and expressive.  While Van Eseltine’s oil pastel drawings create soft, impressionistic, landscapes.

At the exhibit reception on April 1st, the Howard County Arts Council will present a 2011 Summer Arts Camp Preview. A sampling of Summer Camp teachers will be on-hand leading example activities and there will be sample projects from previous years of camp.

Staff will be on-site to accept summer camp registrations. HCAC Summer Camp runs June through August 2011 and has visual and performing arts classes for students in grades K-7 (entering Fall 2011).

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10AM - 8PM, Saturday 10AM - 4PM, and Sunday 12 - 4PM.  The Center is closed Easter Sunday, March 24, 2011. To learn more about HCCA programs and exhibits, call 410-313-ARTS (2787) or visit www.hocoarts.org