With prints, embroidery and ceramic work, students from various local high schools explore the keys to healthy relationships, how they identify themselves and the important people in their lives in Ar
With prints, embroidery and ceramic work, students from various local high schools explore the keys to healthy relationships, how they identify themselves and the important people in their lives in Art 180’s student exhibit, Relationship Status.
The exhibit premiered at Art 180’s Atlas Gallery in Jackson Ward earlier this month and printmakers Molly Roberts and Lemuel David helped the teens through the prints while Angelique Scott and Victor Harper assisted in the ceramic portion.
“It’s a very important age for them to explore [relationships],” said Michael Guedri, Art 180’s Program Manager. “Not only just absorb what is that they have access to and information they’re getting, but to have that conversation and be able to have that platform to talk to each other. And then kind of realize that there are a lot of commonalities. You can learn something from your peers that is really helpful.”
One student, Sydney Slayton, made a print of two people in love talking through tin cans and a string, illustrating the importance of communication.
“While working on this I learned that relationships are based on honesty, trust, and love …” Slayton wrote. “It shows that communication is key.”
Art 180 tries to give teens in challenging circumstances, even those who wouldn’t identify themselves as artists, a safe space to grapple with complex issues through art. When at Atlas, Guedri says, the students are freed from some of the social pressures of the school setting.
“Our focus is really creative expression. Youth development through the arts,” Guedri said. “It’s not really a skill based art program. It’s really a supplement for those who might not have access to some of those programs or might not have the time in school to take an art class but still have something to say.”
The prints exploring relationships were stitched and bound together into books that the students gave to each other. One of the books is on display, but the idea was really to have the teens sharing the work amongst themselves to continue the conversation.
Mostly, the students themselves set the tone and the tenor of the discussion, making sure every participant feels comfortable.
“The mission is really about allowing a space to express yourself and to dig deep and know yourself and understand how the individual is connected to others,” said Emily Hall, Art 180’s Director of Public Relations. “That’s a huge part of maturing as a human is figuring out, ‘I’m not alone in all of these struggles and questions and trying to figure out the world and how everything functions.”
In one installation, students made ceramic plates to celebrate the mentors in their lives. Taken together, the mosaic represents the people who have supported the teens.
“I made this for my mom and dad,” Markee Watson wrote of his plate. “My parents are very hardworking and outgoing. … I want them to see how I view them. They need to know because they set a good example. They teach me that I should never give up no matter what gets in the way.”
For the community, Art 180 wants to facilitate engagement between adults and teens from all over Richmond. As with any exhibit, it’s the viewer who completes the work in how they receive the art.
“That’s really the 180 piece,” Hall said. “When it’s shared with the community, their voice is really highlighted for the community to receive and then digest together.”
Ultimately, relationships and identity are just two of the many topics Art 180 is trying to get teens to consider. In the end, the art can move the conversation to the public sphere.
“Whether it’s relationship status or another way to pose these questions to get these ideas out, that’s kind of what art is,” Hall said. “We could pose infinite questions of how to get to these beautiful results.”
Relationship Status will run until this Friday, May 27th at Art 180’s Atlas Gallery at 114 W. Marshall St.
