Lansing Art Gallery awards talented young artists

The Lansing Art Gallery and Education Center has debuted its selections for the 36th annual Art Scholarship Alert High School Exhibition. An exhibit of artwork crafted entirely by talented Greater Lansing high school students is on display at the Lansing Art Gallery’s space by appointment on Washington Square through April 26. If you’d rather not venture out to downtown, you can enjoy the entire collection virtually on the Lansing Art Gallery’s website.

Though created by a score of very young artists, the selected works display a range of powerful themes. Paintings by Fowlerville High School student, Landen Blixt, are inspired by the nationwide protests against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death. His oil painting “Footed Silence” shows a shoe squashing the face of a protester into the pavement. Other works featured in the exhibit craft striking images inspired by frontline healthcare workers and interpersonal issues, such as becoming comfortable with your body image. 

The Art Scholarship Alert has raised $119,550 for high school artists. The local recipients this year received funding ranging from $200 to the $1,000 Sara Jane Venable Scholarship, which was received by Bella Spagnuolo of Williamston High School. Jurors for this year’s scholarship included local art and education figures Hailey Lamb, Brian Whitfield and Michelle Detering. 

On Thursday (April 15), those who tune into an online event hosted by the gallery will have the opportunity to hear from several of the high school student artists that had their work selected for the Art Scholarship Alert exhibit. The Q&A session is part of the Lansing Art Gallery’s Brown Bag Lunch Artist Talk series, which creates a venue for intimate discussions between exhibited artists and visitors to the gallery. 

The Art Scholarship Alert has been helping young Michigan Artists in nine different counties — grades 9 through 12 — for 36 years. The program was created in order to raise recognition of youth talent and help kick in some much needed financial assistance for promising art students. To participate, a student must submit a portfolio of artwork, which is then juried by a team of professional artists or art teachers.