TWO NEW EXHIBITS AT THE HOWARD COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL Transformations and Full Circle: HCPSS Alumni Show

March is Youth Art Month! Through an ongoing partnership between the Howard County Public School System and the Howard County Arts Council, the annual spring exhibit of student artwork opens on March 12 at the Howard County Center for the Arts in Ellicott City. This year’s Youth Art Month exhibit, titled Transformation, features hundreds of works by students grades K-12 and is on view in Gallery I. In Gallery II, work by HCPSS Alumni is on display in Full Circle: HCPSS Alumni Show. Both exhibits will be open from March 12 to April 23, 2010. A free public reception including beverages and snacks, and a 2010 Visual and Performing Arts Summer Camp Preview will be held on Friday, March 26, from 5-7 pm.

The student works featured in Transformations will be divided into three sections- found objects that have been transformed, materials and media that have been transformed, and appropriated master artists’ images and ideas that have been transformed.

Full Circle: HCPSS Alumni Exhibit features work by Matthew Hanson, David Simmons, and Cheryl Smith. Smith works in a variety of mediums including oils and charcoals to create exquisite depictions of her everyday surroundings. Simmons uses oils to create Impressionist style landscapes that feature urban settings. While Hanson utilizes alternative processes photography to bring a haunting appeal to his photo document of Lithuania.

At the exhibit reception on March 26, the Howard County Arts Council will present a 2010 Summer Arts Camp Preview. A sampling of Summer Camp teachers will be on-hand leading example activities of puppets, mandala poems and sun-catchers and there will be sample projects from previous years of camp. Staff will be on-site to accept summer camp registrations. HCAC Summer Camp runs June through August 2010 and has visual and performing arts classes for students in grades K-7 (entering Fall 2010).

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10AM - 8PM, Saturday 10AM - 4PM, and Sunday 12 - 4PM. The Center is closed Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010. To learn more about HCCA programs and exhibits, call 410-313-ARTS (2787) or visit www.hocoarts.org.