Best from county’s young artists shown

See award-winning student art in an exhibit that opens next week in Everett.

Opening

Scholastic Art Awards: Monday through Feb. 10, Monte Cristo Hotel, 1507 Wall St., Everett.

Public reception 5 to 9 p.m. Monday.

Winners’ ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Everett Theatre, 2911 Colby Ave., Everett.

Artist talk: Wood artist Russ Riddle at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Gallery in the Loft, Brindles Marketplace, 848 N. Sunrise Blvd. (Terry’s Corner), Camano Island. Free, reservations recommended, call 360-631-0688 or e-mail doris@galleryintheloft.com.

Edmonds students: Young Artists Display Case, Frances Anderson Center, 700 Main St., Edmonds.

“The Great American Thing: Modern Art and National Identity”: Saturday through May 21, Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. 253-272-4258, www.TacomaArtMuseum.org.

The 2006 Scholastic Art Awards winning art, created by students at Snohomish County middle and high school, goes on display Monday in the ballroom of the Monte Cristo Hotel, 1507 Wall St., where it can be seen through Feb. 10.

There’s a public reception for the show from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday.

The winners will be honored in a ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Everett Theatre, 2911 Colby Ave., so visitors can check out the art at the Monte Cristo and applaud the award-winning students at the theater on the same night.

The Arts Council of Snohomish County sponsors The Scholastic Art Awards in the county to recognize student artists and to give the top winners – recognized as American Vision Best of Show and Gold Key winners – the opportunity to compete at the national level.

The Scholastic Art &Writing Awards were founded in 1923, and have become the nation’s largest and longest running program of its kind.

This year’s American Vision Best of Show recipients are: Heather Beach, Liz Faussett and Amanda Grage, Snohomish High School; Katie Bashforth, Marysville Pilchuck High School; and Hyewon “Shelly” Shin, Harbour Pointe Middle School.

The Regional Scholastic Art Awards are co-sponsored by the Arts Council of Snohomish County; the Everett Cultural Commission; Terry &Cheryle Earnheart Fund for Children at the Greater Everett Community Foundation; Melby, Cameron &Hull Inc. and proceeds from the Georgia Gerber Raffle.

Artist talk: Gallery in the Loft continues its Loft Lecture Series on Camano Island when wood artist Russ Riddle gives a talk at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

If you’ve admired the beauty and craftsmanship of hand-made furniture, here’s an opportunity to learn how it’s made by a master craftsmen.

The artist, largely self-taught and inspired by woodworkers in his family, turned his first spindle when he was 12. He uses wood with lots of natural grain pattern or “figure” in his work and employs inlay, stringing and tiling as graphic design elements.

Edmonds students: Work by students in Nancy Brancheau’s Clay Design I and Crafts Exploration classes at Edmonds-Woodway High School is on display in the Young Artists Display Case at the Frances Anderson Center.

Included are handmade books by Wubao Xiu and Amanda Beavis and clay pieces by Debbie Kim, Sabrina Vessey, Devin Kendall and Adrian Siers.

Modern art: The Tacoma Art Museum opens a major exhibit Saturday that surveys modern art in America of the early 20th century.

“The Great American Thing: Modern Art and National Identity” features more than 130 iconic works representing a fertile period in 20th century art: 1915-35.

The exhibit, which runs through May 21, includes paintings, sculpture, drawings and photographs. Among the artists represented in the show are such masters as Charles Demuth, Arthur Dove, Marcel Duchamp, John Marin, Georgia O’Keeffe, Man Ray, Charles Sheeler, Joseph Stella, Max Webber and Alfred Stieglitz.

While Europe went to war, America was being transformed by the technological marvels of the machine age into a new empire of factories and skyscrapers, consumer products and the rhythms of the jazz age.

In New York City, a core of artists drew inspiration from the urban renaissance to create works in styles that were based on emerging art forms such as cubism and expressionism, taking American art into the new century.

The exhibition takes its title from a prominent artist of this generation, painter Georgia O’Keeffe, who asked: “How was the Great American Thing going to happen” if American artists continually traveled to Europe to create art, rather than seeking inspiration for their work at home?

“The Great American Thing” runs through May 21 at the Tacoma Art Museum, which is open daily except Monday.

CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT:

“My Friend Sarah,” Liz Faussett, Snohomish High School

“Hold Fast to Your Dreams,” Hyewon “Shelly” Shin, Harbour Pointe Middle School

“Man in Chair,” Heather Beach, Snohomish High School

“The Natural World,” Amanda Grage, Snohomish High School

“Slab Box,” Katie Bashforth, Snohomish High School

A table and box by wood artist Russ Riddle

Edmonds-Woodway students’ work on display in Edmonds

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Archibald J. Motley Jr., “Blues,” 1929; oil on canvas

Georgia O’Keeffe, “Oak Leaves, Pink and Gray,” 1929; oil on canvas

Berenice Abbott, “Murray Hill Hotel: Spiral, 112 Park Avenue, Manhattan,” 1935; gelatin silver print