“Disguised Racism” by Amelia Ka is a piece inspired by the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat. In her artist statement, Ka said it is about racism experienced by Asians, often excused as “just a joke.” (Photos courtesy of Shelley Feeney)
It’s rare for junior high students to show their art anywhere other than the walls of the school or their parents’ refrigerator.
During the month of February, though, Fall Creek Junior High School eighth-graders’ work will cover the walls of the Fishers Arts Council’s Collaboration Hub Gallery, 11810 Technology Dr., for the annual “Embracing Black Culture” exhibit, coinciding with Black History Month.
It’s been about six years since the arts council and Fall Creek art teacher Shelley Feeney started collaborating on the exhibit. Feeney said it’s part of an effort to get student art outside of school buildings and in front of the public’s eyes.
In previous years, Feeney and her students focused on a single Black artist from the past 100 years, studying their style and techniques and adapting that style to the students’ own artwork.
“This year, I did five different artists,” she said: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Faith Ringgold, Norman Lewis, Alma Thomas and Kehinde Wiley. “And the students had to do some research on each of the artists, about the artistic style, movement, how the artwork made them feel — that type of thing. And then they had to kind of relate to one of those artists in terms of style and method that they liked.”
After that, students chose a message they wanted to send.
“It could be within our community all the way to worldwide — any issues that they see as prevalent or they want to bring attention to,” Feeney said. “It was more of using art as a means of communication and as a way to voice their opinion on something. We really discussed how art is more than just a pretty painting that’s hanging on a wall — It could be something that could be controversial or something that’s often hard to talk about or put into words or maybe to help put the viewer in a perspective of someone else.”
Students did not have to focus on Black culture in their individual pieces, but they did study how the five featured Black artists used their art as a means of communication and empowerment.
“And we talked about what culture is,” Feeney said, “Some of the students did choose to do artwork about that, not everybody did, but their artwork had to be something that had a voice, to bring attention to something that they felt was important. It ranged from pollution to gender issues, racial issues, dress code, female rights.”
Feeney said the pieces include a variety of materials, including yarn, origami and mosaic. How they expressed themselves was their choice, she said, as long as they could explain why they made that choice.
“They had complete artistic freedom for this project,” she said. “It was neat to see them think of things and come up with ideas that I would have never thought of. And then, also, I think it’s really important for the community to see what is important to our youth right now. They have a lot of powerful things to talk about and say, and opinions, and this was a great opportunity for them to bring attention to things that might be hard to put in words or talk about in a traditional setting.”
FAC Executive Director Les Reinhardt said there will be more than 100 pieces on display for “Embracing Black Culture,” and it will primarily be student artwork. A handful of pieces by adult artists will be included, as space allows, but student art takes precedence for this show.
“We do 12 different exhibits a year and two of the exhibits are dedicated to student artists,” she said. “We have one in February and one in April. And, last year’s show with Shelley’s students was just awesome because so many kids came out. They were so excited. They were dressed up, they learned about pricing their art and showing it off and writing artist statements, and then we interviewed several of them during the reception.”
A Second Friday reception takes place for each of the FAC’s exhibits, and the February one is set for 6-8 p.m. Feb. 9 at the gallery. Reinhardt said she plans to again have some of the student artists speak about their pieces.
Reinhardt said it’s important to nurture future artists through this kind of exhibit and encourage them to continue expressing themselves.
“We try to provide a safe and welcoming space for anyone to express their art,” she said. “And so, to be able to provide an additional space for students whose art is generally inside the school walls — to have a public space where they can do that I think is really empowering for the students.”
For more, visit fishersartscouncil.org.
If you go
What: Fishers Arts Council’s “Embracing Black Culture” exhibit featuring the work of Fall Creek Junior High School eighth-graders.
When: On display throughout the month of February, with a Second Friday public reception starting at 6 p.m. Feb. 9.
Where: The FAC Collaboration Hub Gallery, 11810 Technology Dr., Fishers.
