MUSCATINE, Iowa–Each spring, the Muscatine Art Center takes a break from displaying the works of established adult artists to honor the promise of the next generator of creators. In April and May, they host their annual Young Artists Exhibit to honor artists in elementary, junior high, or high school, depending on the year. This year, the Art Center has pieces made by fourth and fifth grade creators from many Muscatine Schools on display. To complement these works, they have displayed the entries and winners in the first Young Artists and Authors Showcase, a contest hosted in collaboration with Muscatine Sister Cities and Global Education at the Stanley Center.
A long-standing tradition, the Muscatine Art Center has rotated between displaying different grades’ art for many years. Though somewhat interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the tradition has returned. Currently, several Muscatine elementary schools have work on display, each providing something different. Some art teachers selected a single class project and sent in all their students’ contributions to it, while others had students pick their favorite works from the year, creating a pleasingly eclectic exhibit for all the city to see.
This year’s inclusions highlight different art styles and creative techniques, from pinch pot animals, to drawings with oil pastels, to handmade puppets, to 3-D pieces of sushi constructed from paper and cardboard. Different from exhibiting the works of individual artists or creations with unified themes, Muscatine Art Center Director Melanie Alexander loves the diversity and vividness of the students’ work. “It’s always just a burst of color!” she observed.
For the first time this year, Muscatine Sister Cities partnered with the Art Center and Global Education at the Stanley Center to promote their Young Artists and Authors Showcase. A growing contest, three students entered, one submitting a drawing, one a photograph, and one a poem. Based on the theme for this year, food security in my community, two of the entries will progress to the Sister Cities’ national competition, Susan Clark Junior High School eighth grader Finnegan White for his photograph titled “The Last Apple” and Wilton Junior-Senior High School sophomore Kiersten Zaiser with her drawing “Definitely Not Organic.”
Artwork from Muscatine Community School District fourth and fifth graders on display in the lower level of the Stanley Gallery at the Muscatine Art Center. Photo by Margaret Hurlbert.
With interest in the contest increasing, Muscatine Sister Cities President John Dabeet shared he felt, “extremely happy to have two winners and extremely happy to know they will move on to the national level, and maybe we’ll have a national winner.”
He also hopes to get more aspiring artists to enter the competition to expand it in future years. “It’s important to get our future leaders to take part in national competitions like that,” he said.
The Student Art Exhibition and the Young Artists and Authors Showcase will remain on display through May 21. Anyone may view both for free during the Art Center’s open hours and can find the Student Art Exhibition on both levels of the Stanley Gallery and the Young Artists and Authors Showcase just outside it in the foyer.
