April Offers Special Venues to Showcase Belleville Student Art

Spring offers a great time to showcase the talents of Belleville’s youth artists, and the month of April is offering a number of venues to showcase what has been happening in classrooms under the fine direction of the district’s art teachers Kimberly Phillips and Jon Benash.  While Phillips spent her spring break matting and prepping student work to showcase locally, Benash was getting excited about his high school students who will be showing their work at the Capitol Conference Art Show.  No matter what stage art students are at in their artistic journey, there is a place for their hard work to be enjoyed this month by the public.

For Phillips’ students, she is grateful to have two public facilities available to the Belleville community for her to display K-6th grade student work for the “Youth Art Month Art Show.”  Currently 2D artwork is up at the Lingonberry Llama Coffee Shop, located at 103 W. Main Street, Belleville, during the month of April with an array of beautiful colorful paintings neatly matted and on display for folks to peruse while enjoying some quiet time with a cup of joe.

The Belleville Public Library, located at 20 S. Park Street, Belleville, is the second spot in town to host Kimberly’s K-6th graders’ 2D and 3D creativity.  It is wonderful both as an art teacher and as a student artist to see public displays of the work done in art class.  Artwork is made to be enjoyed, so for public places like the town’s library to offer their walls up to display students’ imaginative creations is a great tribute to the importance of art education and its role in growing the whole child.  Being greeted by inspirational art adds to the ambiance for book lovers and helps support and engage the Belleville community as schools and public spaces intersect.  The artwork displayed showcases a variety of media and materials.

Phillips notes, “Students in art develop skills unlike other subjects focusing on problem solving, creativity, observation, and communication.  This celebration of youth art is to highlight all of the amazing artists in kindergarten through sixth grade.  I have chosen two local venues to exhibit artwork so that parents have an easy way to see their child’s artwork exhibited.”

Kimberly Phillips also teaches art classes for middle school students and their beautiful work in mediums such as pastel, charcoal, ink, color pencil, mixed media and graphite pencil is simultaneously brightening the Belleville Middle and High Schools’ Library during the month of April.  Adding art to school library spaces offers a great way to build community spirit and allows students additional ways to express themselves among their peers.

For high school students, the Capitol Conference Art Show during the month of April offers a unique opportunity for Jon Benash’s students to exhibit their work on a state level in a larger public forum.  Benash is excited for his art students to share their work in this capacity.  The show will be up starting on April 11th and will showcase Belleville art students Aiden Hatelberg (Senior) - Painting; Abigail Kaetterhenry (Junior) - Drawing; Mackenzie Ohms (Junior) - Painting; Kaidynn Olson (Senior) - Painting; Lillian Palmer (Junior) - Drawing; Ryan Schubert (Senior) - 3D Sculpture; Molly Shares (Freshman) - Digital Photography; and Emily Swanson (Senior) - Drawing.

Jon Benash invites the public to attend.  “If anyone is on campus during the month of April, please take the time to check out all of the incredible artwork from our students as well as students from each of the schools in the Capitol Conference.”

These high school students’ art pieces will be displayed at the Pyle Center (Third Floor) located at 702 Langdon Street, Madison, until April 28, 2024.  More information is available at https://www.facebook.com/capitolconferenceartshow.