NE artists interpret holiday
by Crystal Cook, Reporter

   NE art students contributed to the celebration of an annual Mexican holiday, recently.
   The Day of the Dead Celebration Invitational Exhibi-tion ended last week in the NE Fine Arts Building, where the student work adorned the halls.
   This art exhibit celebrated the annual festival and was constructed by Cindy Hurt, a drawing teacher.
   Hurt said that during the Day of the Dead festival, the lives of children are remembered and celebrated on the first day (Nov. 1), and the adults are remembered on the second day (Nov. 2).
   Shrines are given as symbolic gestures toward dead loved ones.
   The celebration of this holiday consists of Mexican cakes, cookies, candles, breads and photographs of the dead.
   “Instead of being a depressing time of the year, this is a celebration of the life, love and joy that has been shared with loved ones of those who died,” she said.
   Art students were assigned, some with the incentive of extra credit, to come up with a contemporary interpretation of Day of the Dead or to show the cycles of life and death.
   Artwork from The Day of the Dead Celebration and Exhibit filled the halls of the Fine Arts Building with feedback from Darrell Schultz, who critiqued and judged the exhibit.
   “Even the novice can readily perceive a high level of enthusiasm expressed in the pieces displayed. Running a parade the length of a corridor with contributions cunningly situated about the doorjambs and the designs of the hallway was a stroke of a genius,” he said in his written critiques.
   Contributors to the art exhibit were students of Pam Rogers, Karen Weinman, Martha Gordon, Paul Greco, Elizabeth Holden, James Behen, Anitra Blayton and Richard Miller.
   Students of Martha Gordon’s class expressed their reactions toward The Day of the Dead Celebration and exhibit.
   “I like the background of bright colors, which symbolize the light of life, and skeletons dancing to the celebration occasion ... I tried to make it peaceful because I’ve been close to death, and it’s peaceful,” Nancy Evans, artist of “Dancers,” a pastel and acrylic painting, said.
   Pressed for the deadline, most of the students completed their artwork in only a couple of days.
   One of Gordon’s students, Jennifer Vaghy-Jones, illustrated dissimilarity through her acrylic painting titled Hell on the Range.
   “I did a picture of Satan on a farm because everyone else did skeletons … I like the odd proportions of Satan’s face because they are so colorful,” she said.
   Vaghy-Jones’ artwork was critiqued by Schultz as having good and rich brushstrokes with warmth and movement.
   While some students were inspired by on-line sites, others were inspired by the imagination of younger children, such as Holly Richardson, one of Gordon’s students.
   “I used actual Barbies that my daughter donated because accessorizing them with the orange, pink and purple Day of the Dead background was fun,” Richardson said, regarding her artwork “All Dressed Up” (mixed media).