Bright colors, bold ideas and youthful imagination are filling up East Tennessee State University’s Slocumb Galleries in Johnson City, Tennessee. Visualize Your Future: An Appalachian Youth Art Showcase brings the creativity of regional middle and high school students into the spotlight while celebrating the often-overlooked impact of art education in Appalachia.
The exhibit was curated by ETSU alumni Amber Farley and Akintayo Akintobi. According to Karlota Contreras-Koterbay, director of Slocumb Galleries, the exhibit serves a broader purpose beyond showcasing artwork.
“[The exhibit is] a celebration of Appalachian youth’s creativity and a recognition of the efforts and significance of art education in the region,” Contreras-Koterbay said.
She emphasized that art teachers play a critical role in student development, calling them “unsung heroes who mentor these kids to help them think creatively, be resourceful of materials, experiment with ideas and learn techniques that are helpful to physical, mental well-being.”
While this exhibit was originally intended for high school students only, community enthusiasm led to its expansion.
“The enthusiasm and cooperation from our local art teachers expanded that to include middle school students, too,” Contreras-Koterbay said.
The showcased works span a wide range of media, including expansive forms of visual art such as painting, drawing, and printmaking. All of the participating artists are K-12 students invitations coordinated through school art teachers and administrators. The exhibit is open and free to the public, and a reception on February 13th will give community members the opportunity to meet the artists.
This occasion is not simply a single event hosted by the university. Visualize Your Future is an initiative of ETSU’s Slocumb Galleries under the Department of Art & Design and is supported by the Tennessee Arts Commission, Jerry’s Artarama of Knoxville, and Bravissima! Women Sponsoring the Arts!
While Slocumb Galleries has organized similar exhibits in the past, this event now marks the beginning of “biennial programming that we will organize… [to] feature various schools in our community,” Contreras-Koterbay said.
One standout feature of the exhibits this year is a beautiful ceramic work created by University School high school students. According to Contreras-Koterbay, the students’ art form was taught and explained to them through a “ceramic workshop and hand-building demo conducted by Black craft artist Jeremy Myles.”
It is also worth noting that the workshop was coordinated by the late Slocumb Galleries community engagement coordinator Lyn Govette.
Through exhibits like these, the university and community as a whole can continue to advocate for the support of art education as a vital part of youth development in Appalachia. For more information about this and future exhibits, feel free to contact Ms. Contreras-Koterbay at contrera@etsu.edu.
