Exhibit Features Photography of Youth Artists

This January, the Boys & Girls Club of Geneva (BGCG) will present two exhibits featuring works by local youth. The works were created for the 2016 National Fine Arts Exhibit and ImageMakers Photography Contest, two member competitions from the Boys & Girls Club of America’s arts initiative. An opening reception for the exhibits will take place in conjunction with Geneva Night Out on Friday, January 8, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Geneva History Museum and Hobart and William Smith's Houghton House. Refreshments will be served at the reception, and the artists will be on hand to answer questions about their work. The ImageMakers photographs will be on display at the Museum at 543 South Main Street, and the Local Fine Arts Exhibit will be hung at the Solarium Gallery in Houghton House at 1 Kings Lane, Geneva. The public is welcome to attend. Both exhibits will be up through January 29, 2016.
 
Over 100 members of the Boys & Girls Club of Geneva are involved in this year’s exhibits, and most of the artists took part in both competitions.  Artists range in age from 6 to 18. Jurors for the National Fine Arts competition were Phillia Yi and Gabriella D’Angelo, professors of art and architecture at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS), as well as Roberta Dixon, artist and owner of R. Dixon Gallery in Seneca Falls.  The jurors for ImageMakers were Andrew Markham, videographer and photographer with the Office of Communications at HWS; Spencer Tulis, the chief photographer at the Finger Lakes Times; and Alysia Kaplan, also a professor of art and architecture at HWS.
 
The National Fine Arts Exhibit has ten categories: monochromatic drawing, multicolored drawing, pastel, watercolor, oil/acrylic, print making, mixed media, collage, sculpture, and group project. Approximately 1,200 Clubs participate annually at the local level. The local first place winners in each category and in four age groups go on to regional competitions. Regional winners move on to the national level.  Each national winner has his or her artwork showcased in the online virtual gallery.
 
The ImageMakers National Photography Contest encourages youth to explore the latest in photography arts. Images selected from the local contest move forward to regional judging, where winning images proceed to the ImageMakers National Photography Contest. Winners at the national level are exhibited at Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Conference and other events.  The Geneva Club is part of the Northeast Region and regional judging will take place in March.
 
The goal of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Fine Arts Exhibit is to motivate members to develop their artistic skills and interests. This year-round program encourages artistic expression among Club members ages 6 to 18 through a variety of media displayed at local and regional exhibits. Showcasing their work in the Fine Arts Exhibit provides youth the unique opportunity to see their artwork professionally displayed for viewing by family, their peers and the community. “These exhibits give the members firsthand knowledge of what it takes to get into a juried fine arts exhibit, an experience most artists do not get until they are in college or after they graduate,” explains Kevin Carr, arts coordinator at the Teen Center.
 
The national winners’ artwork from each competition will be on display at BGCA National Headquarters throughout the year. Last year, six of  the Geneva members won at the Regional level of the two competitions and Crystal Bulger went on to win the National Fine Arts Award for her watercolor of two cats called Artemis & Apollo. This piece, along with all national winners, can be viewed on www.arts.bgca.net.