MIDDLETOWN— More than 2400 Lake County students have been through Raíces Hermosas – Gorgeous Roots a powerful collection of artistic expressions still on view at the Middletown Art Center (MAC) until May 27. Students are encouraged to find themes between and within the works on display. They identify contrasts of light and dark, warm and cool color fields, patterns and graphics that lead their eyes to the intentions of the artists. They evolve their own interpretations of those intentions, and then create their own artwork under the expert guidance of Lisa Kaplan and Nélida Samara, both Artists and Art Educators.
Organizers note that in a time of constricting state and local budgets, public school art programs can come under pressure. STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) related courses that clearly lead to jobs and feed economic growth always take priority, but students who engage in art, music and creative pursuits tend to score higher in aptitude and intelligence tests. Something is sparked alive by the arts that can accelerate learning, critical thinking and tolerance of divergent viewpoints. Many educators find that STEAM has greater power than STEM as it adds arts to the student experience.
MAC opened a few months before the devastating Valley Fire of 2015 destroyed some 2,000 homes and businesses in southern Lake County. Led by Lisa Kaplan, the art center took on the role of a healing phoenix for the community. Their stated purpose is to “engage the public in art making, art education, and art appreciation.” In Raíces Hermosos – Gorgeous Roots the tensions of the individual encountering issues of cultural identity, belonging, appropriation, heritage and modernity animate the works.
In Vincent Pacheco’s Growth Rings (a, b, c) three cross-sections of a felled tree have demarcations of personal history identified on the rings to underscore the layering and burying of experience as we secrete the present upon our past. “Birth”, “Separated from Family”, “First Kiss”, “Jerry Rice Retires”, “Spiritual Drought” and “Ego Death” mark a few of the rings. How is one to integrate such disparate experiences? These slices of life seems to underscore the depth and variety of lived events while questioning our ability to understand them. How do we keep our roots deep, yet accessible? The Latinx artists of the exhibit employ expressions from the deeply personal to the political in their explorations.
With Inigeno Nopal, Maria Mariscal has a cactus floating in the air, but the colors are warm reds, yellows and pinks. It seems softer than the plant, and the harsh protective needles are transformed into dark pliant tendrils.
Jayme de la Torre has disassembled clay sculptural elements which hang from the ceiling. They loosely contain desiccated root systems, gossamer feathers and small bottle relics that suggest the moister landscapes of our own internal organs. Here we find a scapula, there perhaps a terracotta cast of rib cage. Detached but adjacent there is an insinuation of the inside of a shoulder, now home to a gray papery wasp nest. The work evokes a hollowed, eviscerated and disassembled Venus de Milo held between metal circles above and a plate of flattened pebbles below. What is it that unites these elements? This work, also entitled Growth Rings, holds us in suspense.
These are among the 55 works from 19 artists that remain at MAC until May 27. Gallery hours are 10:30-5 p.m. Thursday through Monday. MAC is located at 21456 Highway 175 Middletown. Free school field trips can still be scheduled. www.middletownartcenter.org
