Confluence 2: CCSD High School Student Pop-Up Exhibition
Above: ATHICA AGAIN: The Athens Institute for Contemporary Art entrance is shown during the Clarke County School District’s high school collaborative exhibit “Confluence 2” on March 26, 2023. Clarke Central High School fine arts department teacher Jessica Shelden worked to give a variety of students the opportunity to participate in the 2024 show, which will take place from March 21-27. “(The gallery) gives us a chance to bring the community and share with them what we do in our classroom,“ Shelden said. “I have students from the first semester bringing in work they'd like to be in the show, but also putting in some students who might be a little shy.” Photo by Wyatt Meyer
Athens Institute for Contemporary Art will host their second CCSD High School Pop-up, “Confluence 2” from March 21-27.
As part of National Youth Art Month, Clarke Central High School and Cedar Shoals High School students' artwork will be displayed at the Athens Institute for Contemporary Art (ATHICA) from March 21-27.
CCHS fine arts department teacher Jessica Shelden worked to coordinate the first exhibit in 2023 after the occasion was proposed by ATHICA and is one of the teachers helping to put on the gallery again. According to Shelden, CCHS will split the gallery space with CSHS for a collaborative showcase.
“We were trying to figure out how to get students more real-life art experience, what it would be like hanging art in a real gallery (and) what an exhibition would look like, because student exhibitions don't always match what you would actually see in a real gallery,” Shelden said. “The opportunity came up from a local gallery who said, ‘Hey, we'd love to have some student work.’”
CCHS sophomore Cameron Mojock has taken multiple art courses at CCHS and was selected to have her work displayed at “Confluence 2.” Mojock feels that the chance to showcase her work at a higher level will be beneficial.
“I've had a couple (art pieces shown) at school events but nothing for (the) district,” Mojock said. “For me, (galleries are important) so I can share my art with people and get input from it. Especially with bigger shows like this, it can be good to get attention from higher-ups.”
Shelden feels that the “Confluence 2” event is an opportunity to expose CCSD high school student’s art to the wider community.
“We had a lot of people from the community come in and see it and I think it made a lot of kids happy when they were there to see how many people actually showed up to it,” Shelden said. “Sometimes you get people from all different places who don't understand why the arts are important, or that it's a real career path, or how much art affects everything they do in their daily life. So when we can do events like this, we can really showcase that we have some really talented kids in this district.”
Story by Victoria Garland
Victoria Garland is a junior at Clarke Central High School in Athens, Georgia and serves as the Social Media Coordinator for the iliad Literary-Art Magazine. Garland’s passionate about sharing students creativity, and hopes to provide more of an outlet through social media. Outside of school Garland is on a competitive cheerleading team, plays piano, and enjoys hanging out with friends.