Wasatch Back Student Art Show: My Family

April 7, 2022 – May 1, 2022

Exhibition Opening Thursday, April 7 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Kimball Art Center (KAC) is pleased to present the annual Wasatch Back Student Art Show featuring work by students in Summit and Wasatch County Schools, grades K-12. This year’s exhibition will focus in particular on artwork that incorporates the theme of MY FAMILY.

The Wasatch Back Student Art Show is Kimball Art Center’s annual celebration of our community’s youngest artists. All Kindergarten through 12th grade students in Summit and Wasatch counties are invited to participate, creating work around a common theme. This year’s theme, inspired by the work of Maia Cruz Palileo, is about our families. The unfettered imagination of these highly skilled and creative students produces artworks that are both revealing and thought-provoking.

MY FAMILY poses multiple questions: When you think of family, who and where do you think of? What do you know about your family history? What are the stories that are passed from generation to generation in your family? How do these stories help to form a sense of belonging and identity? Which stories are told, and which are not? How do our bodies carry and tell these stories of our families? Are there common or symbolic images of your culture that you would want to deconstruct (take apart, either literally or symbolically)? Think about how you could create a new way of portraying and showing your ancestors, your family, and your culture.

This year’s exhibition will be presented in tandem with additional exhibitions, featuring work by Maia Cruz Palileo, among others.

Maia Cruz Palileo, Wind, Water, Stone, 2020. Oil on canvas, 48 x 124 inches. Courtesy of the San Jose Museum of Art. Museum purchase with funds provided by Tad J. Freese and Brook Hartzell, the Lipman Family Foundation, and Yvonne and Mike Nevens, in honor of Cheryl and Bruce Kiddoo. 2021.01

Maia Cruz Palileo is a Brooklyn, New York-based artist who paints images of a new and celebratory narrative of growing up as a Filipinx-American in the United States. They blend historical Philippiniana stories with memories of their own family’s migration from the Philippines. Palileo’s exploration of their identity and the connection to the identity of the Philippines in a global context, manifests in rich and colorful works that evoke respect for all of the subjects. In doing so, Palileo presents a reclamation of their peoples from historical colonialism and re-imagines her own cultural heritage. Their focus on identity is based on their viewpoint that our bodies act as vessels, bridging the past to the present.

Artwork Submission

Eligibility and Theme

The show is open to all K-12 students residing in or attending public, private, charter, or home schools in Summit and Wasatch counties. Artwork should follow the theme of MY FAMILY in order to be exhibited. This year’s theme may be taken in many directions, and we encourage lots of creativity!

Participants may submit only ONE ENTRY. The entry must be an original two- or three-dimensional work created during the 2021-22 school year. The artwork does not, however, need to be the result of a class assignment. Artwork must be ready to exhibit. All two-dimensional work will preferably be framed and must be wired for hanging. KAC is not responsible for any damage rendered to an entry.

Delivery

Artwork must be dropped off at Kimball Art Center March 19–27, 2022. Late entries will not be included. Both sections of the entry form must be completed. Section 1 should be attached to the submitted piece of artwork. Section 2 will be given to the Visitor Services team. We will use the information provided to create exhibition labels, so please make all information legible. Email addresses and phone numbers of students, parents, or teachers are required so that we can ensure the ability to return work to students.

Retrieving Artwork

Artwork must be picked up May 3–8, 2022. If alternate arrangements need to be made for pick-up, KAC must by notified before May 8, 2022. If not retrieved, artwork will become the property of KAC as of May 9, 2022.

For more information, please contact: Nancy Stoaks, Curator, nancy.stoaks@kimballartcenter.org