Local high school students have their artwork featured in the first Virtual High School Art Exhibit sponsored by the Penn State Wilkes-Barre Friedman Art Gallery.
Since April 2017, the Friedman Art Gallery on the campus of Penn State Wilkes-Barre has hosted annual art exhibits by local high school artists. Because of current health concerns, virtual classes, limited access to the Friedman Art Gallery and other mandated protocols that continue to affect our educational systems, especially the arts, a virtual alternative was devised to promote local high school artists.
Gallery director Jonathan Pineno invited high school art students to submit original artwork for the first-ever Virtual High School Art Exhibit sponsored by the Penn State Wilkes-Barre Friedman Art Gallery. Wilkes-Barre Area School District CAPAA students and Crestwood Area High School students submitted some of their artworks.
With the opening of the Abram Nesbitt Academic Commons in 2008, Sidney and Pauline Friedman gifted Penn State Wilkes-Barre with the Friedman Art Gallery. This gallery space regularly displays the work of students and local artists, as well as private art collections. The Penn State Wilkes-Barre Friedman Art Gallery strives to promote, encourage and exhibit artworks of professional and amateur artists from the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus and surrounding communities.
The Virtual High School Art Exhibit video will be on display in the Friedman Art Gallery and online through the end of April 2021.
Art teachers from the schools represented said the virtual program provided a good opportunity for their students to display their work.
“The Wilkes-Barre Area School District CAPAA Visual Arts program is an intensive art immersion course, designed for high school students who love to draw, paint, sculpt and express themselves creatively,” said Wilkes-Barre Area School District CAPAA art teacher Ann Gubitose. “This program is designed to offer students an opportunity to develop a strong foundation in art through the exploration of varied media, techniques, development of concepts, and connections to art history.” Gubitose earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in art and graphic design from Wilkes University and started her teaching career in 2001.
Crystal Lovett has been teaching art in the Crestwood School District for the past 15 years. She holds a bachelor of science degree in art education from Kutztown University and a master’s degree in education from Wilkes University.
For additional information about the virtual high school art exhibit, contact Jonathan Pineno, lecturer in music and art and director of the Friedman Art Gallery, at 570-675-9159 or [email protected].
