Arts In The Middle Attracts Talented Area Artists
Young artists from twenty Connecticut Middle Schools attended the fourth annual Arts in the Middle Conference at the Hartford Art School on the campus of the University of Hartford in May. The conference, designed to offer middle level students a high caliber artistic challenge was led by ten talented artists from the greater Connecticut community. In addition, their art teachers also attend as students and learned new techniques side-by-side with their students.
The artists, who led their students in creating two finished art works during the daylong session, were as follows:
Christopher J. O'Herron (portraits) is a graduate of Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration. A Simsbury native, Chris is living and working as a portrait artist and an oil painter in the Canton area. Chris is a charter member of the "Arts in the Middle" faculty.
Paul Hoffman (plein air) is an East Hampton, Connecticut resident. He is a member of the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society (CPAPS). In March 2002, he began teaching oil painting for beginning and intermediate students in West Hartford. Paul began working with charities -- including the Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity, Lupus Foundation of America, Connecticut Chapter and The Working Lands Alliance -- late in 2000, combining art sales with environmental and social causes.
An accomplished artist in acrylics, watercolors and pencil, Scott Rhoades (aboriginal art) became acquainted with Aboriginal art during a sabbatical to Australia in 1990. Scott has also distinguished himself as a teacher, specializing in integrating art with other subjects. He has collaborated on CT History Day projects, has been acclaimed by the Connecticut Educator's Computer Association and was recently recognized as the grand prize winner by the International Reading Association at a gala event in San Antonio. Scott is on the faculty of Capt. Nathan Hale Middle School in Coventry.
Kevin Sepe (computer arts) is a graduate student at the Hartford Art School. After assisting in Arts in the Middle for two years, he has taken over the top spot in leading students in creating original works using the vast resources of the computer lab.
Nina Goodale (drawing) is a graduate of the University of Hartford Art School with a degree in fine arts. She has taught youth programs for10 years and has done numerous programs for the Farmington Valley Fine Arts Center. She is a free-lance mural artist and has her own studio in Hartford.
A self-taught cartoonist and humorous illustrator, Rick Stromoski (cartooning) has produced work for national magazines, children's and humor books, newspapers (including the Hartford Courant), licensed products, national advertising and network television. He has been nominated for his illustration work by the National Cartoonists Society 12 times and was awarded the Reuben division award for best greeting cards in 1995 and 1998 and for magazine gag cartoons in 1999. He is president of the National Cartoonists Society.
Diann Cook (acrylic & mixed media) attended Central Connecticut State University obtaining a degree in Graphics and Illustration and a Masters in Art Education. She is an entrepreneur with her own Youth Art Company, JAM (Junior Art Makers). Her work has been exhibited in many different venues throughout Connecticut and in private collections.
Barbara Scavotto-Earley (wire sculpture)of Enfield, CT distributes
her passion for creativity among her students of all ages and her sculptures of all sizes. Her dawning explorations in planar and linear steel are preceded by decades of clay and mixed media sculpture. Currently, steel rods are her medium for drawing in space, creating volume with the barest of linear elements. Through postures and gestures, Barbara composes optimistic, often humorous commentaries on humanity and everyday life. She earned her teaching degree at Southern Connecticut State University and studied in graduate programs at Wesleyan University and University
of California.
John Sadler (Watercolor) has been an art teacher for 24 years at Ellington Middle School. He has a BS in Art Education from Plymouth State College and also attended Florida Institute of Technology and the Art Institute of Boston. "Jake" is a former wilderness school instructor and now sails extensively in Maine and on Long Island and Block Island sounds where his nautical watercolors reach fruition.
Kenya Darcel Washington, (self portraits)" is a creator, creating poetic sermons and spiritual self-portraits. She is an educator as well as a student educating in various arenas from public and alternative schools in Connecticut and New York to prisons for men and women, as well as in museums, churches and mosques. Kenya is currently a student pursuing a master's degree at the Hartford Seminary.
A highlight of the day was an opportunity to view the almost three hundred art works created by the student artists. More valuable was the new knowledge and techniques they were able to take back to their schools and studios thanks to the skills of the presenters.
The Connecticut Association of Schools is indebted to The Hartford Art School for making their fine facility available to the program, to the Greater Hartford Arts Council for a Neighborhood Arts and Heritage Grant and to the ColArt Group, the leading supplier of colour and associated art material products across the world, including products such as brushes and surfaces which are designed for use by artists of all abilities.
The artists, who led their students in creating two finished art works during the daylong session, were as follows:
Christopher J. O'Herron (portraits) is a graduate of Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration. A Simsbury native, Chris is living and working as a portrait artist and an oil painter in the Canton area. Chris is a charter member of the "Arts in the Middle" faculty.
Paul Hoffman (plein air) is an East Hampton, Connecticut resident. He is a member of the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society (CPAPS). In March 2002, he began teaching oil painting for beginning and intermediate students in West Hartford. Paul began working with charities -- including the Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity, Lupus Foundation of America, Connecticut Chapter and The Working Lands Alliance -- late in 2000, combining art sales with environmental and social causes.
An accomplished artist in acrylics, watercolors and pencil, Scott Rhoades (aboriginal art) became acquainted with Aboriginal art during a sabbatical to Australia in 1990. Scott has also distinguished himself as a teacher, specializing in integrating art with other subjects. He has collaborated on CT History Day projects, has been acclaimed by the Connecticut Educator's Computer Association and was recently recognized as the grand prize winner by the International Reading Association at a gala event in San Antonio. Scott is on the faculty of Capt. Nathan Hale Middle School in Coventry.
Kevin Sepe (computer arts) is a graduate student at the Hartford Art School. After assisting in Arts in the Middle for two years, he has taken over the top spot in leading students in creating original works using the vast resources of the computer lab.
Nina Goodale (drawing) is a graduate of the University of Hartford Art School with a degree in fine arts. She has taught youth programs for10 years and has done numerous programs for the Farmington Valley Fine Arts Center. She is a free-lance mural artist and has her own studio in Hartford.
A self-taught cartoonist and humorous illustrator, Rick Stromoski (cartooning) has produced work for national magazines, children's and humor books, newspapers (including the Hartford Courant), licensed products, national advertising and network television. He has been nominated for his illustration work by the National Cartoonists Society 12 times and was awarded the Reuben division award for best greeting cards in 1995 and 1998 and for magazine gag cartoons in 1999. He is president of the National Cartoonists Society.
Diann Cook (acrylic & mixed media) attended Central Connecticut State University obtaining a degree in Graphics and Illustration and a Masters in Art Education. She is an entrepreneur with her own Youth Art Company, JAM (Junior Art Makers). Her work has been exhibited in many different venues throughout Connecticut and in private collections.
Barbara Scavotto-Earley (wire sculpture)of Enfield, CT distributes
her passion for creativity among her students of all ages and her sculptures of all sizes. Her dawning explorations in planar and linear steel are preceded by decades of clay and mixed media sculpture. Currently, steel rods are her medium for drawing in space, creating volume with the barest of linear elements. Through postures and gestures, Barbara composes optimistic, often humorous commentaries on humanity and everyday life. She earned her teaching degree at Southern Connecticut State University and studied in graduate programs at Wesleyan University and University
of California.
John Sadler (Watercolor) has been an art teacher for 24 years at Ellington Middle School. He has a BS in Art Education from Plymouth State College and also attended Florida Institute of Technology and the Art Institute of Boston. "Jake" is a former wilderness school instructor and now sails extensively in Maine and on Long Island and Block Island sounds where his nautical watercolors reach fruition.
Kenya Darcel Washington, (self portraits)" is a creator, creating poetic sermons and spiritual self-portraits. She is an educator as well as a student educating in various arenas from public and alternative schools in Connecticut and New York to prisons for men and women, as well as in museums, churches and mosques. Kenya is currently a student pursuing a master's degree at the Hartford Seminary.
A highlight of the day was an opportunity to view the almost three hundred art works created by the student artists. More valuable was the new knowledge and techniques they were able to take back to their schools and studios thanks to the skills of the presenters.
The Connecticut Association of Schools is indebted to The Hartford Art School for making their fine facility available to the program, to the Greater Hartford Arts Council for a Neighborhood Arts and Heritage Grant and to the ColArt Group, the leading supplier of colour and associated art material products across the world, including products such as brushes and surfaces which are designed for use by artists of all abilities.