Katonah Museum Displays Masters Students Artwork

After her grandfather fell recently, she was inspired to paint a watercolor of him for her AP Studio Art “sustained investigation” project. 

Her painting, “Confused Grandfather,” along with the artwork of 13 fellow senior art students was part of the 41st Annual Young Artists exhibition at the Katonah Museum of Art. The month-long show featured artwork from nearly 40 schools in Fairfield, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties. The submissions ranged in scale, concept, media and process. Students of Cheryl Hajjar, upper school visual arts chair, and visual arts teachers Rachel Langosch and David Becker participated in the exhibit.

“This opportunity is a rare one,” Hajjar explained. “Not many high school students get to exhibit in a major museum. It is also an opportunity for them to see their work in the context of many other impressive art students in the greater New York area.”

“This exhibition provided me a chance to get feedback from a diverse population while enabling me to learn from other seniors' works,” Yao shared. “I love art, and what I enjoy most is both the process of exploring new media and the sense of achievement when seeing the final product.”

Tobias Freeman ’24, a Film Major student, was thrilled to show “Playfully Quaint,” his short film about “a teenage boy reflecting on his relationship with his sister whilst writing his college essay.”

“When you think of films you don't usually think of video installations at museums,” Freeman said. “I, however, think that video installations are super cool. One filmmaker who inspires me, Shirin Neshat, did a lot of video installation work that I think is really powerful. It was nice to be able to follow in one of my hero's footsteps a little bit.”

Lainey Spencer ’24, a Darkroom II and Photo Major student, selected her photograph titled “The Gentleman” from an assignment. “For this project, we got to choose a type of ‘business’ and I chose animal photography. I spent two weekends shooting pictures of my dog and editing them during my photography classes.”

In addition to Yao, Freeman and Spencer, the participating artists included:
Charley Agranoff ’24 - Darkroom II
Alexandra Costo ’24 - AP Studio Art
Mckarthy Grimes ’24 - Independent Study in Film 
Andrew Killian ’24 - Photo II
Sophie Miller’ 24 - AP Studio Art
Clara Nalle ’24 - Photo Major
Eleanor Schalkwyk ’24 - AP Studio Art
Augusta Sykes ’24 - Darkroom II
Aron Tucker ’24 - AP Studio Art
Ava Viscarello ’24 - AP Studio Art
Sage Weinstock ’24 - Independent Study in Studio Art

“I would describe the work as eclectic as a collection,” Hajjar added. “The pieces are each so individual and a direct reflection of the students who made them. These very experienced art students have strong and distinctive voices as artists. As the teacher of some of them, I am so proud of the accomplishments they have made studying sometimes two, three or even four years of their high school career, and now being celebrated this way.”