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Arts & Entertainment

Exhibit Showcases Young Local Artists

The Young Artists' Showcase runs through May 6 and features work from Webster Groves, Kirkwood and Nerinx Hall high school students.

The is celebrating its 35th year with a tradition that gives area students the spotlight in the historic building's galleries. 

The at 2 Oak Knoll Park in Clayton runs through May 6. At an opening reception last Friday, high school artists and their parents, along with friends and community members, packed into galleries to view 160 paintings, prints, photos and sculptures selected from a field of 333.

"I love it," gallery director Gina Alvarez said. "They're amazing. They're interesting. They can do a lot of things professional artists have forgotten about because they don't know any better. ... A lot of the credit should go to the teachers."

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Webster Groves High School student Alexis Etzkorn created the ceramics piece "Self Portrait" under the guidance of instructors Karen Antrim and Andy Thom, and Nerinx Hall High School student who produced "River Front," is taught by Tom Hunt. 

The opening reception filled the entire parking lot. In the spirit of the evening, a few creative visitors even made their own parking spaces. Alvarez estimated 600 people attended the opening, a higher figure than in the other two years she has coordinated the showcase.

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"There's a lot of art here that's beyond the years of the artists," executive director Michael Hunt said. "What impresses me about this exhibit is the talent of the high school students and the amount of support they get from the teachers and the parents."

The suggested donation for the exhibit series is $1. The Young Artists' Showcase runs through May 6. Visitors may come from noon to 4 p.m. on any day of the week excluding Monday.

The Artists' Guild also is hosting two exhibits alongside the showcase. I Breathe. I Walk. is an exhibition by class of 2003  alumna Kristin Fleischmann, and Eggsperimental & My Best Work, is a collection of photography.

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