Drawing by Viola Velonis

The Portfolio Art Class at Longview School in Brewster was created at the request of students who wished to heighten their skills either overall or in particular areas of art. These are serious students for whom art is more than a class – it is a path and a practice. 

The work created by these talented individuals is now on view in the Young Arts Gallery at Mahopac Library and can be visited during regular library hours through Feb 28.

Under the guidance of art teacher Sharon Nakazato, the students keep sketchbooks and draw both in and out of class. They are asked to research the works of artists from many historical periods and styles and to find ones, they feel an affinity with in order to identify techniques, colors, moods, materials, and ‘a look’ they want to incorporate into their own work. 

The seven students participating in the Young Arts Gallery show are Harry Howell, Himuka Goto, Henry Bailey, Alyse Santella, Rio Vieira, Viola Velonis and Simonne-Anais Clark. Their artwork – created with pencil, pen, and ink, and watercolor – is a mix of illustrations, fantasy, and imagination.

The emphasis in the Portfolio Art Class is on gaining skills – of observation, dexterity, curiosity in action, creative mental processes, image-making, and the psychological implications of image manipulation, peculiarities of image vs. text, and more – that will hold them in good stead no matter what vocation they end up taking up later on. 

And, finally, they are gaining the ability that will provide them with a lifetime of pleasure. 

For more information, visit mahopaclibrary.org or call 845-628-2009, ext.100.

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