MANSFIELD — Six students from Mansfield Senior High School are among the featured artists for this year’s Ohio Statehouse and Riffe Center Gallery Exhibition.
The prestigious annual showcase celebrates outstanding student artists from across the state. Works will be on display from April 6 through May 18.
“It feels really rewarding to see their artwork displayed in a very prestigious fashion at our state capitol,” said Molly Reecer, art teacher at Mansfield Senior High School.
The show is presented by the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, the Ohio Arts Council and the Ohio Art Education Association.
The exhibition is open daily to the public at two locations — the Ohio Statehouse and the Ohio Arts Council Riffe Lobby. Works inside the Statehouse are displayed in the House Hallway south of the Rotunda.
Every year, thousands of visitors tour the Ohio Statehouse and experience student artwork as part of their visit.
The show features six selected artworks from each of the eight regions of Ohio, as defined by the OAEA. Reecer oversaw the artwork selection for Ohio’s north central region, which she serves as the OAEA’s regional PR/Advocacy Chair.
The local artists include freshmen Skyla Brosig, Emily Ute and Leovanni Gonzalez, junior Tyler Hubbard and seniors Charity McNamara and Gavin Camak.
Brosig said her piece, a mixed media rendering of an elephant, was inspired by African textiles.
“The most challenging thing about creating the piece was creating the elephant out of metal and trying to figure out what patterns to use,” she said. “My favorite part was coloring the border.”