Group Show Featuring Local Students
Many of us expected COVID-19 would to a part of our past by the fall of 2020. Instead, the fall of 2021 marked the third school year affected by this global pandemic.
Jessie Wilber Gallery
December 3 – February 4, 2022
The Emerson believes in the ability of ART to tell a story, help us reflect, make us feel, to heal, or mark a moment in time. With this core belief in mind we invited K-12 students to share how they are navigating this global pandemic through art. This exhibit shows the struggles, fears, and hopes of these young artists. Their pieces are powerful and evocative. We believe that they represent the resiliency of our youth.
You are also invited to spend time sharing your own thoughts and images on how COVID-19 has impacted you, your family, and your community. We invite you to include your thoughts and images in the spaces provided within the exhibit.
Exhibiting Artists
Fiona Daley, Delores Dee, Claire Mills, Suni Rabinsky, Lain Reddinger, Lillian B Williamson, Middle Creek Montessori Cottonwood & Lodgepole Classes
Student Works & Statements
Dolores Dee
Age 10 | Meadowlark Elementary
Self Portraits
Paper, marker, pencil, crayon – 2.5″ X 2″ (3)
“These self-portraits represent me and everybody. They represent a thing about me. A blue spike may be a negative thought to one person, but to another it’s a unique feature. They can be applied to anyone, you just need to figure out how. Each portrait has Covid 19 and different emotional states.”
Suni Rabinsky
Age 12 | Sacajawea Middle School
Pieces of Me
Paper mosaic – 19″ x 24″
“This was a school assignment that I enjoyed creating to represent me during the pandemic.”
Lillian B Williamson
Age 10 | Peak Potential Academy
Stuck Inside For Color Is Outside
Paint on canvas – 9.5″ X 8″
“This shows that when the first surge of Covid 19 got to Bozeman, we were not allowed to go outside for fear we would be exposed.
Cottonwood & Lodgepole Classes
Age 4th-6th Grade | Middle Creek Montessori
Earth, Wind, Water and Covid 19
Cyanotype paper on canvases – 28″ X 48″
“When asked by the classroom teacher to make an art project commemorating wearing the mask, the kids were not particularly enthusiastic. But given the chance to expose the mask cyanotype paper with objects from nature, they found it satisfying. Somehow the sun and air felt healing in relation to the mask, as well as taking it off and making the work outside. The kids were proud of the resulting images, It felt appropriate that it was a collaboration, as the experiences of Covid was something there were all in together, the blue tones were like a breath of fresh air.”
Claire Mills
Age 16 | Bozeman Field School
C-Void
Acrylic on Canvas – 18″ x 24″
“I found a canvas with a hole in it and was about to throw it out when I had an idea. It didn’t take long for me to find meaning for it is reflecting how this pandemic has affected my life.”
Lain Reddinger
Age 15 | Gallatin High School
A Self Reflection
Acrylic – 20″ X 24″
“This piece represents the last few years of school with COVID. Some words included in the pieces are “quarantine”, which has had effect of many students, “Mask required”, which supports the theme of mask wearing throughout COVID, the total COVID death count as of 11/16/21 and of course the statement “when will it stop”. When starting this painting I knew that I wanted to create something that not only myself and others could relate too, but also something that would evoke emotion and send the very important message that COVID still exists and we need to still be taking action. I hope all of my art…
Fiona Daley
Age 17 | Homeschooled
Pain Turns Into Power
Ink marker – 11″ X 14″
You Matter In The World
Magazine Collage – 12″ X 14.5″
Pass, Hang In There
Ink marker, crayon – 12″ X 14.5″
“I have been very alone during this pandemic, so these works were my way of telling myself what I needed to hear and express what I was feeling without having anyone to talk to. My hope in sharing these works is that I’ll find others who felt this way too, and that themessages may help them as they did me.”
