ART BASEL | HIGH SCHOOLS
Galleries shine spotlight on student artists
SOME LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WILL EXPERIENCE THE THRILL OF HAVING THEIR ART DISPLAYED IN GALLERIES AS THOUSANDS OF ART BASEL FANS DESCEND ON SOUTH FLORIDA
Posted on Fri, Dec. 07, 2007
BY KATHLEEN McGRORY
PETER ANDREW BOSCH / MIAMI HERALD
Laura Sanchez, a student at The New World School of the Arts, poses with a self-portrait.
The artist in Laura Sanchez stirs. She retreats to her room and reaches for her tools of expression: charcoal pencils, specialty paper -- and her mirror.
As merengue music pulses, the New World School of the Arts senior draws rough sketches of her reflection. Then, she adds bright splashes of watercolor paint to bring her mood to life.
For the most part, Laura's whimsical self-portraits have found a home in her school or small local galleries.
That was until this week.
Laura is one of several high school students whose work will be showing at prominent local galleries as throngs of art lovers descend on Miami for Art Basel. Laura's work will be on view at The Gallery in the Grove, a private gallery on Mary Street in Coconut Grove that isn't officially part of Art Basel, but that will welcome festivalgoers throughout the weekend.
''For me, creating a piece of art is the greatest feeling in the world,'' said Laura, who is also valedictorian of her class. ``I'm excited so many people will get to see it.''
In addition, Cathryn Garcia-Menocal, 17, Laura's friend and classmate at New World, will show a collection of pieces in the same gallery. And five students from Design and Architecture Senior High School will display original aluminum chairs at Design Miami, Art Basel's now-official companion in the Design District.
Experts say participating in the swirl of events surrounding Art Basel is a great learning opportunity for students. More than 40,000 people from around the world are expected to be in town -- and many are likely to branch out to other fairs and private galleries.
''There is such a buzz surrounding this event,'' said Brian Dursum, director and curator of the University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum. ``Students will get exposure to people coming and looking at their work. They will get great experience as to how buyers, collectors and gallery owners look at art.''
For the students, showing their work alongside the heavyweights of the art and design world is a huge honor.
Laura and Cathryn, who have been friends since middle school, have attended Art Basel every year since it first came to Miami in 2002. Both girls dreamed of getting in on the action.
CREATIVE SPACE
This year, the girls lobbied a teacher, Jim Hunter, and a pair of New World alumni to help them secure a space to show their art. They found the Gallery in the Grove. Though not part of the official Art Basel fair in Miami Beach, the Grove gallery will share in the excitement surrounding the international show, said Lilia Garcia, a board member for the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, which runs the gallery.
Preparing for the showing was more work than the girls thought it would be, Cathryn said. In addition to selecting the work, they had to price each of their pieces and get the word out.
''This is getting them ready for the real world,'' said New World Principal Fred Conde. ``They're learning how to show their work.''
New World students have regularly attended Art Basel in Miami, Conde said, but Laura's and Cathryn's participation is the first time students have shown their work in private galleries during the event, he said.
''It's daunting, definitely,'' said Laura. ``But it's almost like a dream. We're really happy our hard work paid off.''
Five students at the Design and Architecture Senior High School shared similar sentiments in the days leading up to Art Basel.
Their involvement started in September with a challenge from their teachers: Design a chair to be made entirely from recycled aluminum.
''At first we thought it was going to be just another assignment,'' said Precious Hannah, 17. ``But when we found out that the winning designs were going to be fabricated and in Design Miami, we couldn't believe it.''
The 40 seniors in the school's architecture and industrial design program got to work.
In September, a panel of judges, which included Design Miami organizers, reviewed the sketches and chose the five winners.
Johad Ellis, 17, was in politics class when he found out he had been selected.
''Everybody started clapping,'' Johad recalled. ``I was just screaming. It was pretty insane -- definitely one of the coolest moments of my life.''
MORE EXPOSURE
HSBC Bank, the program's corporate sponsor, later paid for the five chairs to be fabricated. Each cost several thousand dollars, principal Stacey Mancuso said.
The chairs will be on display at the HSBC Bank VIP Lounge. They will also be exhibited at Art Basel Switzerland in June.
Nikki Beem, a spokeswoman for Design Miami, says she is unaware of any other major design fair that incorporates original work by high school students.
''We're really excited to be working closely with the students,'' she said.
DASH principal Mancuso said the winning students are equally excited.
''It's one thing to go away to college with a drawing of something you've designed,'' she said. ``It's another thing to have your design manufactured and put on display.''
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