SKOWHEGAN — The artistic styles and personal emotions of about twenty-five Skowhegan Area High School students are captured in a 4-foot by 8-foot mural, which was unveiled Sunday at a Central Maine Artists Gallery show featuring the work of high school artists.
The mural, titled “The Light Side and the Dark Side,” took two years for members of the Skowhegan Area High School’s Art Club to complete. The mural was officially unveiled Sunday at an art show of the same name at the Central Maine Artists Gallery in Skowhegan which ran from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The mural, along with other artwork created by the high school students, will remain on display until May 12.
This is the third mural to be produced by art club students and displayed in Skowhegan. The other two murals include one for the high school and one for the town’s municipal building. But what was unique about this mural, according to art teach Iver Lofving who advises the club, is that the students were able to pick the theme and run with it.
“The last (theme) was tight. We just had to do it about the school, and the one we did before that had to be about Skowhegan. So this one was more all of their ideas,” Lofving said.
With the broadness of choosing from light colors and dark colors, students were able to paint whatever they felt compelled to. Kessea Emerine, a junior, said she enjoyed the free-form of the theme, adding that the color palette she sided with depended on her mood on a given day.
“We’ve got a lot of happy people, and we’ve got a lot of not so happy people. So it just kind of works together, the converging of ideas,” Emerine said. “I’ve got a little bit of both. It really just kind of depends on what I’m feeling that day.”
Emerine has been a member of art club since her freshman year, joining because she didn’t have room for an art class in her schedule, but wanted to be able to do “art with a purpose.” She has since seen the transformation of “The Light Side and the Dark Side” from a blank piece of sign-painting plywood to a colorful and diverse work of art that represents herself and her peers.
“It’s incredible to see how much it has come together because for a while it was just pieces and parts. And then it just kind of all came together,” Emerine said. “The personalities in art club make it work.”
The mural is not exactly split into a dark side or a light side. Instead Lofving described the representation as more of a “yin and yang.” Colorful characters and animals cover a natural landscape on the left side of the mural, complete with rainbows and flowering trees. On the right side of the mural, the colors and mood drift toward darkness with sinister characters and skeletons atop a gray and red landscape.
Monika Ouellette, a sophomore, said she enjoyed working on the mural because it let her express herself and her lightheartedness. Over the last few months, Monika helped her fellow art club members fill in the blank spaces, which she chose to fill with bright characters and animals.
“When I don’t express myself I feel like I’m trapped. And getting everything out, it just feels like people (will) know how I feel and they can taste a bit of that essence,” Ouellette said. “To me, the light is kind of pretty, there’s a lot of colors. There’s a lot of dark colors in the dark too, but it kind of freaks me out and makes my heart jump, so I just stay where I’m safe.”
Aside from expressing themselves, Lofving said working on a mural teaches students how to work with others and work toward a finished project together.
Doug Corson, who owns the gallery, said he typically hosts a student art show every two years, working with the Skowhegan Area High School Art Club. Two years ago the show was held in conjunction with Madison High School students as well.
“(The show) is a chance to display something other than the typical news you hear about youngsters,” Corson said.
Lofving said he is not sure where the mural will be put on display after May 12, but that he is looking for a home for it. He and his art club students have already begun conceptualizing a mural for the Somerset County Courthouse. County officials approached Lofving with the idea of a mural for the courthouse that depicted the history of Somerset County.
Lauren Abbate — 861-9252
Twitter: @Lauren_M_Abbate
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