Lanesboro Arts is proud to present the Annual Juried High School Art Show, showcasing artworks by 9-12^th grade students from Chatfield, Fillmore Central, Lanesboro, and Rushford-Peterson High Schools. The show opens on January 16th and runs through February 7th. Always free and open to the public, gallery hours are Thursday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The show features a variety of art projects, including those in ceramics, acrylics, pastels, ink, pencil, photography, and mixed media sculpture.

Each year, the high school exhibition gives young artists the chance to showcase their artwork in a professional gallery setting. This year however, as students adapt to distanced learning and all the changes associated with COVID-19, the road to showing their work has looked a little different. As Fillmore Central art teacher Carrie Mathison says, “Kids are bridging that gap between home and school, which is a hard thing to do.” According to Mathison, teachers have had to adapt to accommodate these new styles of learning, “I’ve tried to make my classroom more like home, because a lot of kids create at home, but there are also lot of kids that don’t.” Mathison also notes that a lot of the student works are still in progress as students continue to adjust to new styles of learning.

The shift towards hybrid learning has brought about some positive change as well: “[The students] are becoming good problem solvers through COVID-19, and innovative thinkers,” Chatfield art instructor Abbey Potter notes. Potter observes the way distanced learning has encouraged creativity and collaboration, “We’re hybrid right now, so we’re half at home half at school. It’s made for some really small class sizes, which is actually really nice because they’re collaborating with each other more. They’re becoming closer with one another, which is nice to see.” Lanesboro art teacher Stena Lieb has also noticed a change in the way students structure their artistic practice, ““They have to plan out what they want to learn on their own, because I can’t have the same classes I normally would.” Lanesboro Student Brooke Lambrecht shared how COVID-19 has allowed for extra time to work on her artwork, “I had a lot of time during quarantine this spring to work on art and create paintings for school. I mainly worked from vintage photographs or ads. I am so excited to be a part of this show!”

For many young artists, this years show is especially meaningful and creates a community of artists that’s been hard to find these days. Lieb explains, “They haven’t had a chance for anyone to see their artwork this year…. Because students aren’t passing and moving around like they normally would throughout the school, I have 7th and 8th graders that haven’t seen my senior’s artwork like they normally would.” Due to hybrid learning, the students have fewer opportunities to display their work in ways other than digitally. Again Mathison says, ““To have something to physically show off or to present, a lot of students are very excited for that.”

Filmore Central Student Adrik Nevalainen speaks to the cathartic power of art making during these stressful times, “I know this year has been rough for a lot of people, including myself. But It’s nice to know that even in times like these, we can all come together and share our art with each other. Thank you to the Lanesboro Art Gallery for making this all possible. And thank you to my art teacher for admitting me for another year. I’m looking forward to it.”