'Life is Short, But Art Lives Forever'

One might mistake the art on display this month at Wheatgrass Arts & Gallery as being professionally made. Such is the talent of the Glasgow High School students on exhibit through the end of the month.

Proprietor Mary Fahlgren, a native of Houston, Texas, has graciously opened the space to the former students of Cathryn McIntyre, who has left her position at GHS to pursue her own burgeoning career.

"They are the budding artists of tomorrow," Fahlgren said. "Art is from the day a person is born until the day they die. It is part of their life. I want to support all that. Whatever art is in Glasgow, that is what we are here for, as a venue for all artists, regardless of age."

Fahlgren, a professional artist, said the student art on display is outstanding.

"I think that what we are seeing here is a medium that young adults have a way of expressing themselves. They say, 'one picture is worth 1,000 words.' If you know the story behind some of these, it just blows you away."

On painting depicts a girl's competition with her sister for her father's attention, Fahlgren noted.

Other paintings "to me are a moment that you won't forget and that is how they say it."

Art allows teens a safe venue to express themselves, Fahlgren added.

"Young adults are really struggling between child and adulthood, and this is how they can put it out there and see it. It is like putting a name on it. And, when you have a name on something, you can deal with it. That is what I love about art, because I am also a retired therapist. So, when I see things like this, it is such an unintimidating way of expressing yourself without really putting yourself out there, although it is. When you put your art out there, you are exposing yourself. But, it is a safe way to do it as well."

This is the first time incoming sophomores Shalynn Pedersen and Eve Stone, both 15, have had their art displayed in a professional setting.

"It feels pretty good," Pedersen said.

"I really like it," added Stone. "I am excited people will come and see it because I put a lot of work into it."

Pedersen has been a sketch artist most of her young life. But for this show, she submitted a terra cotta mask. She began molding clay only recently during the second semester of her freshman year.

"It was something new and it grabbed my attention," Pedersen said."I like how you can change structures and create it into something else that can look neat to others."

Pedersen said she doesn't always know what she will create when staring down an unformed hunk of clay.

"It just depends. I will be doing something and it involves into an idea, or I will have an idea beforehand and I will go ahead and do it."

Regardless of the outcome, the medium allows Pedersen to put what she is experiencing into physical form.

"It means expressing feelings and emotions, how you feel towards something."

The mask has a definite tribal vibe.

"When Ms. McIntyre showed us her mask, that is what gave me the idea."

"I brought in a tribal inspired mask by an artist in Saskatchewan my dad had been friends with," McIntyre said. "It was hanging on the wall and when I gave the assignment, one of the really interesting things is Shalynn's piece was literally the first successful one that came out of the kiln. With clay in general, there is a pretty high rate of failure, especially when you are learning about the volatility of it."

The kiln fires at about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, McIntyre said.

"It is very toasty. I was very pleased because [Pedersen] worked with two different clay bodies and was able to get a marbling affect. One of the things that was really successful about her piece is that the clear glaze she put on there, and the details she painted on, were really clean in the application. From an aesthetic standpoint, when you have a student who is new to the medium have clean results, for me comparable to a professional artist I was familiar with, it was amazing. Very big thumbs up."

For her part, Stone created several reproductions of soda-pop cans, decorated in floral and mushroom patterns.

"They were all hand built," McIntyre said.

Stone said she was inspired by a similar design she saw in a photograph.

"There is someone who does a lot of it, but they had a different style. I painted different things on it than they did. I was trying to do patterns and flowers at first, but they started bleeding, so I started doing different designs."

McIntyre said all of her students only got one shot at getting their pieces done correctly.

"We didn't have the time or the capacity to do test firings. So, it was a one and done. Do the best you can." Pun not intended.

To create her hollow clay cans, Stone rolled out pieces of clay and molded the cylinders by hand. She was even able to fashion realistic pop-tops.

Stone also created two oil paintings on display. They are named Downtown Denver I and II. They are based on photos her mother took while visiting the Mile High City in Colorado.

Paintings on the wall. Horse Drawn Cart and City Scene. They are both named "downtown Denver I and II." One focuses on a horse drawn carriage while the second is a city scape.

"I have been painting my whole life," she said, "but not taking art classes. I just did it at my house."

These two paintings are Stone's first attempt in the oil medium. She had only dabbled in acrylic previously.

"I tried to do different colors than just daylight," Stone said. "So, yellow and purples. With the building, it was hard because I had to make all the windows and everything the same size and measure everything make sure it stayed the same. The horse, it was hard to get the different lighting."

Stone used a large color palette for her vibrant paintings. Each took about three months to complete in class. The students had 90-minute-periods last year, but classes have been reduced to 60 minutes for the 21-22 school year as the district transitions to a four day in-class school week.

Stone said she may consider the pursuit of arts professionally as an adult.

"I don't know. I have thought about it. It is kind of too early to tell. I will definitely keep doing it, even if I don't sell everything."

This is because Stone finds joy in doing so, she said.

"I like painting things or drawing things in pictures I took, or my mom took. I just like going out and taking pictures I can paint later."

CREAM OF THE CROP

McIntyre said the current arts students at GHS are the creme de la creme.

"It is an incredibly talented group of kids, especially the students who are now the sophomore class and the students who are about to be the junior class. There is a lot of talent. For me, it was bitter sweet to say goodbye and to know I am not actually going to continue to nurture that withing the classroom. At the same time, you have to look at your own career and nurture that along too."

As an artist, McIntyre is concerned there are not enough resources for young artists in Valley County.

"Within the history of the local environment, there has always been heavy emphasis on the athletic end of the students," she said. "There simultaneously has always been support and encouragement of arts, but the community relationship between the school and the arts existing outside in the community, in my opinion, has never been strong. That is one of the things I tried to strengthen, and Mary Fahlgren has been right there with me, both of us trying to find ways to put these kids out there. One of the goals in the student arts shows, we have one celebrating the art of every semester, was to showcase the students artistic talents in the same capacity that the athletic events are showing the students talents."

There is much potential for the growth of the arts community in Glasgow, McIntyre said.

"I would say Valley County is, in my experience, excellent at acknowledging talent and nurturing it on the individual level. We are hoping to celebrate it collectively."