HELENA — The Holter Museum of Art is holding their annual Youth Electrum exhibit which showcases art from Helena area K-12th graders.
“I think Helena is a special little crucible of, it's an artist oven really, like, I think a lot of artists are created here,” says Ramsay Ballew, Exhibition and Collection Manager at the Holter Museum of Art
The annual Youth Electrum exhibit works to bring in artists’ work from throughout the Helena School District, including homeschooling groups. The included mediums vary across the board. There are ceramics, digital, embroidery, crayon, and paints, among other mediums.
Ballew participated in this longstanding tradition when she was in high school. She says that having student art shown to the public is validating for those who created the pieces.
“Sometimes when you see the way that your creative work is displayed in the world, and you see other people enjoying it and appreciating it, I think that's intensely legitimizing for us. And I don't think that kids are any different than adults in that sense – that we want to be acknowledged for our hard work and for our creativity. So, I think Youth Electrum is really important for that,” says Ballew.
The exhibit, sponsored by Helena College this year, brings in a guest juror to judge the pieces. This year’s juror, Seth Roby, an art professor at Helena College, awarded Audrey Rogge of Helena High 1st place in the Painting and Drawing category.
Rogge says she’s been doing art for pretty much her whole life. She tells me that she’s actually sold a few of her pieces in the past and participated last year in the Youth Electrum. She loves being able to showcase her pieces and see what other artists have created.
“I love people seeing my art, that, I get great reactions out of it. So, it's cool. I love seeing other people's art too,” says Rogge.
If you’d like to see the art installation for yourself, it runs through May 29.
