Ceramic teapot by Anna Lupien, class of 2025. (Photo courtesy Lincolnd Academy)
Lincoln Academy’s Visual Arts Department and Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust are partnering once again to present the annual student art exhibition, full of artwork by more than 60 of this year’s talented visual art students.
The exhibition will be on display for three weeks, from Wednesday, April 9 through Friday, April 25, at Coastal Rivers’ Denny Conservation and Education Center at 3 Round Top Lane in Damariscotta. All are invited to the opening reception to celebrate the student artists from 5-7 p.m. on on Friday, April 11.
The student art exhibition will feature artwork made by Nina Sylvia’s Advanced and AP art students, Jonathan Mess’s advanced ceramics students, and Kate Mess’s jewelry and metalsmithing students. Students do all of their own matting, framing, and installation for the show, and write artist statements to explain their creative process.
They spend a day in the exhibition space before the show opens, hanging the work and making decisions about lighting, display, and curation. The exhibition is an important culmination of the creative process for art students, many of whom are showing their work for the first time.
“We have worked hard to build a strong, diverse offering of visual art classes at Lincoln Academy, where students can develop their creativity, define their individual voices, and explore a variety of art media,” said Kate Mess. “This exhibition just skims the surface of what our students are up to at LA. Our current course offerings also include sculpture, printmaking, digital photography, graphic design, and more.”
Lincoln Academy is proud to boast numerous accolades for their visual art students this year, including six Scholastic Arts Silver Key Awards for Sophia Anderson, London Hunter, Lee MacCorkle, Ella Seymour, Lydia Zimmerman, and seven honorable mentions for Clover Dixon, Stella Field, Ally Grondin, Joel Lamb, David Winchenbach, and Lydia Zimmerman. Many of these award-winning artworks will be on display in this year’s exhibition.
Viewers will see a broad range of painting and illustrative styles in the Advanced and AP two-dimensional works. “This year has a huge variety of artistic expression,” said Sylvia. “There are quite a few larger pieces and students have really poured their hearts into their artwork this year.”
Ceramic work in this year’s exhibition will feature impressive surface design work, including hand-built sculpture, wall pieces, and wheel-thrown pottery by students in Jonathan Mess’s year long ceramics classes.
“This year, my students have been working on their sculpting skills with handbuilt teapots, butter dishes, and figurative work,” said Jonathan Mess. “The last few months, we’ve been focusing on the pottery wheel and students are pushing their scale and technique, experimenting with section throwing and carved surfaces.”
“We’re grateful to partner with Coastal Rivers to host our student art exhibition for a fourth year,” Mess said. “The Denny Conservation and Education Center is a beautiful space and setting to share our students’ creations with the public.”
Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust is a nonprofit, membership supported, and nationally accredited land trust and conservation organization, dedicated to preserving and promoting the natural, cultural, and historical heritage of the Damariscotta-Pemaquid region. Though not an art gallery, the organization makes a fitting partner and host for the student art show in their goals of supporting education and community.
Following the reception, the public is invited to view the student artwork during Coastal Rivers’ business hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m, to noon Friday, through April 25.
