“Celebrate Curiosity” Gallery to open at FāVS Center

“Celebrate Curiosity” Gallery to open at FāVS Center

By Gen Heywood

The first phase of Faith Leaders and Leaders of Conscience of Eastern Washington and North Idaho  “Heart Interventions” project was an art contest called “Celebrate Curiosity and the judges have determined the winners.

Join us Saturday, June 5, from 9 a.m. to 10 a..m at the FāVS Center, right before the FāVS Coffee Talk (guests are welcome to stay for Coffee Talk, too!). Come and see the original art work, meet some of the artists, hear from the winner, and pick up your own 8×10 image of the FLLC poster made from the winning design.

We are still practicing Covid Careful guidelines and will be wearing masks and keeping 6’ apart.

Learn about the artists and their original work through their own voices below:

Lauren Erickson, winner (age 14)

I was born and raised in Spokane to Brian and Marisa Erickson and have one brother, Roman Erickson. I have always loved art and language arts. When I was little my mom had taken me to preschool mom and me art classes and I always enjoyed them so much. Now that I am in middle school, I have taken an art class last year in seventh grade and now in eighth grade.I have received a paper in my honors English stating that there would be an art contest. Last year first, second, third place belonged to the students who went to my school Jonas E. Salk. Immediately I was interested about the contest and read over the paper again later that night. This year’s theme was “Celebrate Curiosity.” It took me a few days to really think about how I could even display it on paper or on canvas. Though one day the idea came to mind, I quickly sketched my design on printer paper before my idea left my head. My idea was to have people in circles all around holding hands while others held huge bold question marks symbolizing, we celebrate curiosity. I was very confident about it and began to sketch, even though I had little experience with sketching people. I incorporated myself in the front of the first circle in a gray t-shirt and jeans that I customized last year, purple and blue paint dripping up. On the far right is my dad in the original Nintendo controller shirt (he has the same shirt in real life). My mom is right next to him in her classic hair pulled up in bun, my brother is a few people away waiving in the #95 shirt representing his favorite car Lightening McQueen. I wanted to include EVERYONE in my drawing who have different cultures, ethnicities and even people who get around in their own ways. I thought it was very important to include everyone. On the left there is a black German Shepherd who is a service dog to a person that is blind. The dog is my dog in real life, her name is Scout. Before the art contest, my mom had showed me a video about a man named Blake Leeper, who had a prosthetic leg. His message was to keep going and reach your goals. I drew a similar person with a prosthetic leg on the left being inspired by Blake Leeper. My intention was to have lots of people together in circles celebrating curiosity as far as the eye could see. I enjoyed coming up with my design for Celebrate Curiosity and I believe I can grow farther with my artistic abilities. Thank you.

Eileen Martin, adult second place

When I first became interested in visual arts, I studied the woodcuts of a Quaker political artist whose images conveyed a powerful message in such a beautiful format that the viewer was compelled to study it at length. That became my model and motivation for art making. Over the years, and they are many, I’ve featured environmental as well as political issues in prints and silk batiks. This poster, Live in Wonder” is meant to honor the major religious and philosophical traditions of the world in the boarder images which surround the overreaching imagery of the eagle, in it realm of power.

Samantha Breno, High School second place“Beauty is Diversity”

My name is Samantha Breno and I am currently a junior at Gonzaga Preparatory. I have been creating most of my life, but I really found passion in art freshman year when I took my first official art class. This past year I have been taking AP Art and have really enjoyed it. I love a variety of art from painting to drawing, clay sculpting to jewelry making, and photography to digital art. I currently sell jewelry and art on Instagram (@hiddenintheshetchbook) and I sell stickers on Etsy (ADaisyStickerShop). 

This piece is one I did for my AP portfolio focused around mental health and social issues. This piece specifically is on body positivity and neutrality, which essentially means that it promotes the idea that everyones’s body is powerful and beautiful no matter race, size, gender, amount of cosmetic surgery, etc. I tried to include a diverse selection of figures in my piece, I used Posca Paint Pens on glass and attached on a chain with super glue. I hope that the viewer can be reminded that even if their specific body type lacks media coverage, that they are strong and beautiful in their own uniqueness.

Lexi Henry, Middle School second place

I’m Lexi Henry. I’m 13 years old and I go to Salk Middle School. I really like drawing so when my English teacher told me about this it sounded like a lot of fun. I thought it would be cool to draw a few girls from all over the world and make it look like they were holding hands. I didn’t draw it in my usual art style so it was a bit more of a challenge and made it more fun, but I’ve always liked the idea of people all being united and getting along! Actually, when I was in first grade I drew something a little similar to this, where everyone was holding hands and were all friends.