Art. Write. Now.

ART.WRITE.NOW.

MILLSTONE GALLERY AT COCA

The exhibition Art.Write.Now.Tour 2018-19 features a selection of prize-winning works from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a nationwide competition for student artists and writers in grades 7-12. Spanning various types of media, including painting, photography, sculpture, and illustration, and creative writing, Art.Write.Now presents the diverse creative output of teen artists. The show, held very fittingly at the arts education center COCA, aims to show off the talent and skill of Gen Z creatives and the issues they’re passionate about.

Art.Write.Now arranges the work in clustered, loosely-themed groups. Not surprisingly, as the contributors are members of the generation that’s touted as the most progressive, these themes have a strong social and political slant. Issues of gender, race, sexuality, and politics are considered, often bluntly. Some works show conceptual restraint, like the delicately-rendered x-ray view of a suitcase that comments on the state of privacy today (Curious Seeking, Michelle Jeong), while others, like the cartoon depicting Donald Trump with devil horns (Opening a Can of Worms, Julie Sharpe), decidedly do not. Pieces that don’t grapple issues of social justice and identity are conspicuously outnumbered by those that do. These young artists clearly want to engage with and change the world they live in using creative means, and they have the skills and conviction to do so.

Overwhelmingly, Art.Write.Now is earnest. Too often, sincerity is treated as something to grow out of — it’s not necessarily a flaw, but a sign of inexperience. Earnestness seems to be considered the mark of student work. Art.Write.Now wears the label “student work” proudly. It sends the clear message that earnestness should be celebrated and encouraged, and rightfully so.

-Amelia Goldsby

www.cocastl.org

Joy Han, Women of Comfort (image courtesy of the Alliance for Young Writers and Artists and COCA)

Maha Almatari, Ideal Reflection, (image courtesy of the Alliance for Young Writers and Artists and COCA)

Yunju Lee, The BLend of Cultures, (image courtesy of the Alliance for Young Writers and Artists and COCA)

IN REVIEWSPRING 2019 ALLTHEARTSTL.COM