'HeART Exhibit'

Melissa Dvozenja-Thomas, Director, Development & Marketing, Arts Mid-Hudson for The Poughkeepsie Journal

The meaning of Valentine’s Day differs depending upon its origin. Most people, however, can agree that by this time of year, the warmth brought on by loving thoughts is most welcomed by the holiday. With that in mind, Arts Mid-Hudson called upon youth (13 and younger) to show what was in their hearts for the HeART Exhibit. They were asked to create visual pieces of work that showed what love means to them and how they show love. Young artists ages four to 11 connected with their families over this topic, and explored perceptions, feelings and innovative thoughts.

Percy and Evelyn, nine-year-old twins, write poetry with their grandfather when they visit him. When he saw the call, he thought this was another great opportunity to bring them together. Both Percy and Evelyn love horses, which made it easy to decide on a topic for their poem. They each created a poem line by line with their grandfather. The poems are identical, so their grandfather initially thought he would submit one poem written by both girls, but when they got to the last line, they both held their own convictions. Horses are love and are very much loved.

Devin, age 4, created "Four Letter Word" in response to "how do you show love?". The 11”x14” multi-media on canvas has the word “HUGS” written in red paint with confetti of hearts, stars and music notes throughout the piece. He said, "hugs are the best, they make you feel warm and safe."⁠ Another collage was created by Avery, age 5, titled, “A Day with my Aunty." The viewer can envision the wonderful time spent with a family member creating this piece, which looks like a party on paper. There are pieces of graph paper cut out with smiley faces, markers, hearts drawn in crayon, glitter swiped joyfully across the paper and pom poms to top it off.

Giuliana, age 8, created "A Field of Feelings" on 18”x 24” canvas using acrylic paint. She started with an incredibly poignant thought. There are so many feelings. You can be sad, silly, dark, or light, and it's ok to "bee happy!"⁠

The Pine Hill Community Center After-School Group created an entire tree for the exhibit at their center. "The Loving Tree" is a collection of collage art, cut hearts, and animal drawings, from seven of their participants ages six to 11. Emma, Elivia, Henry, Kiko, Lexi, Levi, and Raven weren't quite sure how to put love into words, but used their creativity to make love grow!

Additional participating artists currently include: Theodore (age 6), Mayim (age 8), Vincent (age 8), and Remmy (age 9). The HeART Exhibit can be viewed from the comfort of your home by visiting www.artsmidhudson.org/heart-exhibit . If you know a young artist who would like to participate in the exhibit, send in pictures of the artwork to gallery@artsmidhudson.org or direct message to Arts Mid-Hudson through Facebook or Instagram. Include the child's name, age, and a little information about their piece. ⁠⁠ This program was made possible in part by the Ann and Abe Effron Donor Advised Fund of the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley.⁠

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If you go:

HeART Exhibit

Arts Mid-Hudson Virtual Gallery

Contact: 845-454-3222

gallery@artsmidhudson.org

www.ArtsMidHudson.org/heart-exhibit