What does a group of sixteen landscape artists, portrait painters and black and white photographers have in common? They are all a product of the Durham Public School System.
Homegrown/Under 35, an exhibition currently on view at the Craven Allen Gallery in Durham, celebrates the work of these individuals who graduated from Riverside High School between 1992 and 2010. It was during their time at this institution that these students came to discover their passion in art, which has now encouraged the artists to reconnect with their roots.
“[The exhibit showcases the] creative energy that has been produced in Durham and is still in the area,” said featured artist Damian Stamer.
The sixteen artists who are featured in the exhibition have another experience in common: they were all students of former Riverside art teacher Helen Griffin. During her teaching career, Griffin submitted her students’ work to local and national competitions and encouraged her students to further their education in the arts by attending the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Upon retiring, Griffin directed her efforts toward securing a gallery space to bring the Homegrown/Under 35 exhibition into fruition.
Griffin explained that many of these sixteen artists are still relatively young and would typically find it difficult to secure a gallery space on their own. Homegrown/Under 35 aims to bolster public recognition of these emerging artists whose work is not only on display but also for sale.
“I’m always looking for a way to promote my students,” Griffin said. “What I would love is for people, businesses and institutions to see the show and go, ‘Wow, we really liked so-and-so’s works—can we have more?’”
Although galleries and museums play an important part in enabling the public to showcase art, Griffin believes that these pieces should become more commonplace in everyday environments such as offices and homes. Personal or informal settings are often represented within the artwork itself, she said, and it seems appropriate that these pieces of art would be displayed in similar spaces.
Stamer’s oil landscape “Tarheel” is an example of this philosophy. The piece depicts Patrick Road in Northern Durham at the point at which it cuts through farmland, which was once part of the bus route that he and his twin brother would take as children.
Leigh Werrell, another artist featured in Homegrown/Under 35, noted the connection between her art and Durham.
“I think putting artwork by the graduates of Riverside together was a great idea, not only to exemplify the effect and importance of art in public schools and what can come out of them, but also to represent our sense of place and what contemporary artists in Durham, and in the south, are considering as important issues in art today,” said Leigh Werrell.
One such issue is the inclusion of the arts in an educational system facing harsh budget cuts. Griffin explains that the first thing to be eliminated when a school system faces economic hardship is the arts, including dance, theater and visual art. Aside from one other photography instructor, Griffin was the only arts teacher for the extent of her 18-year teaching career at Riverside High. She believes that without the arts, a child’s education would be incomplete; nurturing a passion for this discipline in young minds can, in her view, have good consequences.
“How students start affects how they finish, or whether they finish…I think it’s important to educate the whole person, ” she said.
In this way, Homegrown/Under 35 is both an homage to the successes of the Durham Public Schools in producing this diverse crowd of talented and creative professionals, as well as to the lifelong commitment of teachers like Griffin.
“If it’s your passion,” said Griffin, “you never quit learning.”
Homegrown/Under 35 will be on display at the Craven Allen Gallery on Broad Street until November 26. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
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