Student artists exhibit work in Katonah Museum of Art

Each year, the Katonah Museum of Art presents an exhibition called Young Artists: A High School Art Exhibition: “Now in its 36th year, this annual exhibition of senior students’ artwork gives aspiring artists an opportunity to participate in all aspects of a museum exhibition. With the guidance of professionals, the young artists organize, publicize, curate and install their own exhibition.” For the first time, EF Academy New York partnered with the Katonah Museum of Art to participate in this exhibition. The museum displays quality work from high school seniors all over the area, giving exceptional art students the opportunity to learn more about the process and work that goes into exhibiting artwork. EF Academy New York is proud to have 10 seniors exhibiting artwork at the museum, alongside students from several other area high schools. The 10 seniors from EF Academy each exhibiting an artwork are:

Chia-Yun Hung(Chelsea)
Antonia ten Holder
Valeria Ivashova
You Woo Lee
Jingxuan Liang (Kara)
Chen-Hao Lin (William)
Daijia Li (Roger)
Tan Minh Nguyen
Anastaija Stojkovic
Nina Zenhausern

Antonia ten Holder, one of EF Academy’s students that was selected to showcase a piece, was proud to stand alongside so many incredibly talented fellow artists. “I am so honored and completely blessed that I was very kindly chosen to have one of my works be shown, and to have it shown in such an incredible space,” ten Holder explained after the exhibition opened on February 10. Her piece was an impressively intricate and meaningful chiton, a Greek toga traditionally worn by women. She was inspired to create this piece, entitled “Facets of Femininity,” because of its many different layers of meaning, all of which are united in one piece of clothing: a wearable form of femininity. Based on the traits of several different Grecian goddesses, ten Holder described her piece as “a representation of the winding path of life: the different stages of femininity that we go through on our journey to discover who we are and what we love.”

In addition to the students whose work was displayed in the exhibition, a few EF Academy art students also had the opportunity to assist with setting up the exhibition. Selected juniors and seniors included Nuzhhat Kamal Lea, Uzo Alexander, Gonie Weinstock, Violette Wolter, Dien Berziga, Rawnak Rahman and Sophia Valle. These art students learned about exhibition design and helped install each piece of artwork for the show. Ten Holder was impressed with the design of the exhibition, saying “the Katonah Museum of Art did an amazing job displaying all of these pieces, and many students got together to do the curatorial aspect of the space and the exhibition. To be able to go to a museum and see my piece, very professionally displayed somewhere, was such a powerful moment.”

Indeed, what a powerful thing for aspiring artists to see their art in a real, curated space. “Especially for people who want to go into this, who want to follow their passion and do art for the rest of their lives, this first step is such an important confirmation that you can do this,” said ten Holder. These students, who have the chance to display their creativity for the community at large, should be so proud of their work. They play an important role in inspiring others through artistic expression. Many visitors were quite moved to see so much passion, so many stories reflected through painting, drawing, photography and sculpture. The power of art to inspire is undeniable. A final thought from resident EF Academy New York artist, Antonia ten Holder: “You don’t know their lives or their histories or their stories, but you can see this incredible thing that they’ve created, and you know that this is something they love.”