I'm Here: CAE Teen Exhibition Catalog

Teenagers: insightful, resourceful, complicated, misunderstood, and acutely aware of the world around them. Last year, in the Hear Me exhibit, much of the artwork focused on isolation, darkness, and anxiety. As an art center, it was a privilege to provide these kids with a safe place to express themselves. For some, their artwork was the first time that their voices were actually heard. For others, the artwork helped them begin to heal.

For CAE, it was the most powerful exhibit that we hosted in 2021.

Fast forward one year later, yes, we are still in a pandemic and still living with uncertainty.

However, somewhere along the way, while these kids were discovering their sense of self, they came across hope. They began to see light in the darkest moments. The healing has just started for some, and all will face different challenges ahead, but they are stronger now. They are better prepared for the obstacles that lie ahead because they are strong, powerful, and “acutely aware of the world around them.” I feel compelled to paraphrase my favorite quote by Winne-the-Pooh: “Our kids are braver than we believe, stronger than we think, and smarter than we know.”

As I walked into the gallery and began to weave through the exhibit, I was so happy to see how far we have come. I was ignited with hope, and I’m optimistic that our children can see the glimmers of light. So I invite you to experience I’m Here to see firsthand how far our kids have come. We all have a lot to learn from them.

To the students, I am in awe of your talent. I am honored to host such a wonderful body of work. Thank you for igniting our imaginations. For all of you, I think this is the beginning of many, many good things to come. Congratulations!

To our sponsors, Bruce Anderson with Farmers Insurance and Lynn Westfall with ReMax Alliance, thank you. I am grateful for all you do for CAE and our community. None of this is possible without the generosity of our sponsors and individual donors. To Sara, thank you for leading the Teen Council and helping to create another powerful teen exhibit.

Lisa Nierenberg Executive Director Center for the Arts Evergreen 2

I’m Here is an art exhibition created at the Center for the Arts Evergreen (CAE) in Evergreen, Colorado. CAE is a registered nonprofit that has been in existence for 46 years. CAE’s mission is to enrich and serve our mountain community by promoting and cultivating the arts through quality educational programming, exhibitions, and events.

I’m Here runs from January 13 - February 12, 2022. This exhibition would not have been possible without the help of so many artists, businesses, volunteers, the CAE Teen Council, and the CAE board and staff.

Center for the Arts Evergreen Executive Director: Lisa Nierenberg Director of Exhibitions, Education & Outreach: Sara Miller Director of Marketing & Sponsorship: Amanda Ingalls Events Managers & Administrative Assistant: Jordan Gill Accounting Manager: Tom Maxey Board President: Kristin Witt CAE Teen Council: Samantha Ferguson (CAE Teen Curator), Dallas Maxey, Ben Miller, Emilyn Fearing, Violet Penny, Ella Howell, Riley McIntosh,

Thank you to our sponsors:

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What is I’m Here?

Last January was our first Teen Show at Center for the Arts Evergreen (CAE). We called it Hear Me. We put out a call to teen artists across the state to submit artwork that spoke to the issues on their minds—in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of political change in our country, in the midst of living their lives as teenagers in the complicated 21st century. Teenagers answered the call, and their artwork cried out loud and clear, “Hear Me!” For this year’s show we flipped the title, from Hear Me, to I’m Here. Our hope was that our teens had found hope and resilience in 2021 and could portray that in their art. Many did find strength, but not always in the ways that we assume. For some it was about quietly hunkering in with family or friends and learning to appreciate the comfort that came with that. For others is was about their journey to finding self-acceptance—in their self-image, in their cultural or gender identity, in their return to a daily routine that felt familiar but forever altered due to COVID. For most of the teen artists, it was about admitting that they are tired of the word “resilient.” So many of the students told me, “We know that we’re supposed to be resilient, and we are. But we also don’t have a choice. Do we?” This generation of teens will be remembered for who they became because of forces outside their control—the resilient COVID generation. What they so desperately want is to be celebrated for who they are (and are becoming) as individuals. I’m Here is the beginning of that celebration.

The call for submissions for I’m Here was open to any student aged 13-18 in the state of Colorado. We received 128 submissions from 22 different high schools. The final show contains 46 two-dimensional and three-dimensional pieces of original artwork from student artists representing 14 schools. Our hope is that you can experience I’m Here as a gathering of beautiful and poignant artwork, AND that you can celebrate each individual artist for what he, she, or they represents as an individual.

Not only was the artwork created by teens, but it was also selected by teens. I feel privileged to work alongside our Teen Curator, Samantha Ferguson, a senior at Conifer High School, to lead CAE’s Teen Council. The Council is composed of area teens from five different schools. Their first in-person meeting this year was to select the pieces for I’m Here. I was truly touched by how thoughtful and collaborative they were, taking the time to analyze every submission from the perspective of technical ability and composition.

Most importantly, they had long conversations about how the pieces spoke to this year’s theme and the reasons why they were successful.

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The Teen Council also spent hours curating the artwork to develop a story and flow for the exhibition, while also learning how to hang a show in a professional gallery. Finally, they put their heads together to select the awards. I’m Here truly is a show by teens from start to finish. I’m forever grateful for the role I get to play in their individual artistic journeys.

I’d also like to thank our show sponsors and our incredibly supportive community for giving us the chance to highlight the importance of art as a platform for understanding and expression.

Sara Miller Senior Director of Exhibitions, Education & Outreach Center for the Arts Evergreen

Exhibition Awards Best in Show:

Phoebe Hatch for Stuck in Routine

2nd Place:

Izzy Davis for Tangled

3rd Place:

Elizabeth Bean for Cacophony of Emotion

Best Artist Statement:

Ben Kayser-Cochran for Is This What I Am?

Honorable Mention:

Kelly Roach for Metamorphosis

Honorable Mention:

Emilyn Fearing for How to Fix a Broken Pot

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Salvage

Koyuki Aker

papier maché 22” x 13” x 8” $280

Age: School: Boulder High School

After a year of losing grasp of myself and what I had established of my identity, I felt hollow.

Entering my healing process, I salvaged what I could through much adversity. My wounds were healed temporarily and loosely. My scar is prominent. Since, I have felt fragile and constantly on the brink of falling apart once again. Still, I am here and I am resilient. I wanted to physically be able to see my healing process. To fully channel my story into my work, I made a papier maché life-sized sculpture with plastic wrap, scraps of white fabric, glue, and red string. I wanted to keep the structure fragile without much support because that is how I still feel in my body. The stitches are loosely applied and the needle is still attached to signify that I always have to be ready to stitch myself back together.

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Aching Morning

Abigail Arnold

acrylic 12” x 9” $250

Age: 16 School: Boulder High School

This piece depicts the feeling of waking up unwashed and groggy. It shows how everyone has those distinctly uncomfortable mornings, and that they continue on nonetheless.

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3rd Place

Cacophony of Emotion

Elizabeth Bean

marker

Age: 16

21” x 21”

School: Evergreen High School

$250

2020 was a year of extirpation as COVID began to seep into our lives, affecting the common mental state of everyone—the main focus on the youth. This year, a year of growth and a year of change, I wanted to encapsulate the last year as not entirely hopeful, but as a false sense of security. Over the last two years, we have all struggled greatly, and the world has changed immensely, a vision completely different from how we had imagined our futures. Yes, we have grown, and we have healed, but this is the equivalent of acceptance: putting a Band-Aid over an open wound. We feel that we are getting better, the world is healing, but put simply, this is just the passage of time, and the cycle of acceptance as things only continue to worsen. As teenagers in 2021, we are not faced with making the decisions of our world, but instead are set aside to watch as it crumbles with no authority in society’s eyes to create change. So this year, I chose to represent this in the best way I knew how: self-expression through art. To me this piece represents reality: what we need to address emotion, allowing yourself to feel negatively when everyone else seems to have moved on, self-empowerment, realizing that it only takes one person to make a large scale change in the world, and the importance of an open mind, giving to all who ask for a moment to speak.

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Hope

Samantha Bernal

acrylic, pen, ink

Age: 13

20” x 16”

School: Bell Middle School

$30

My art is divided in two parts. The dark side represents all my fears during the pandemic: judgment through social media; my friends (the mushroom head dude); how some people are pushed far enough to look at drugs as a way to cope with their problems; and finally, death. Losing people to that had a big impact on me with fear for the people I love, along with several other fears and insecurities that I have. Then there’s the other side. It has much brighter colors, teaching me and the people around me the possibilities of what can truly be accomplished in life and to look not in the past at the problems but to look towards the future and what can be held there—mostly hope. Clouds represent peace and flowers for the love I have around me.

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I Found You (You Found Me)

Jojo Brooks

acrylic, gouache, marker 12” x 9” $150

Age: 17

School: Eaglecrest High School

After prolonged staring in the mirror, I stared at the split worlds between my reflection and myself. Over a period of time, we managed to connect to one another and form a sense of self-love over how I’ve viewed myself and what I’ve become. Being Hispanic and bisexual is a very lonely world and requires a lot of searching to find a safe place. It’s difficult to try and change the way I’ve perceived myself, and yet, shifting the angle of my gaze helped immensely.

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Sunset Rising In Divide

Kimber Castro

digital photography 11” x 17 ” $425

Age: 15

School: Evergreen High School

I took the base of this picture in Divide, Colorado. Divide is a very special place for my family and me. Divide has been a sanctuary to escape the pandemic. We have spent many weekends in Divide in 2021 as a family, riding dirt bikes, fishing, hiking, and enjoying our property. I looked forward most to watching the sunset and the moonrise together as we sat by a bonfire! It was always so peaceful and magical and soul soothing. To me, this piece of art reminds me of those magical nights I wish everyone could experience.

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I Never Left

Emily Cavanaugh

chalk pastel 19” x 13” $100

Age: 17

School: Douglas County High School

Although the pandemic was very emotionally tiring and challenging, our spirit, compassion, and resiliency never left.

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The Woodsman

Dan Daley

photograph 11” x 14” $120

Age: 17

School: D’Evelyn Jr/Sr High School

The time spent in Covid-19 isolation left many teenagers, including myself, worn and weary.

The Woodsman attempts to capture that feeling we have coming out of the situation back into the world that we remember from before. We are all still left tired from the lockdowns and the experience that we were left with still lingers with us. That being said, there is still work to be done while everyone reintegrates with society, so like the Woodsman, we will get back up and go back out into the world.

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2nd Place

Tangled

Izzy Davis

mixed media 30” x 20” $350

Age: 17

School: Boulder High School

Exploring how one’s inner mind has become a tangled and knotted web over the past months was something that I found fascinating. While there is not a clear direction that this piece took, many parts were pulled from personal and interpersonal relationships with the people around me. I found through this process that many people have become quite unhappy, with no way of resolving it. However, ways of escaping this reality around us have become more prominent. It’s this extensive web of tangled connections and junctions. If we find comfort and even that lost sense of happiness through this escape, whatever that may be, why stray from it? Maybe that’s how we have begun to be present again. Showing the struggles and results from this moment in time is something that should be explored more.

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The Rise of Dionysus

Lisca de Jager

mirror and acrylic 19” x 23” $100

Age: 16

School: Evergreen High School

I chose the subject Dionysus for two reasons. First was the story of how he came to be. When Dionysus’ human mother had died, she was pregnant with him and was burnt to ashes by his father Zeus. And in those ashes lay Dionysus, where he was raised by Persephone. This linked him to the underworld as well as flora. In later stories he became more carefree and was debated as an Olympian. The second reason was his cult. Because of his story and his carefree attitude towards the world, the lower classes of Greek society found freedom in him. With his unlikely birth, being raised by Persephone, and the people who found their freedom in him, I feel that even though he may be the god of wine, he is the unlikely god who pushed past adversity.

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Lake Louise Time Slice

Jonas Dillon

photograph 11” x 14” $100

Age: 15

School: Evergreen High School

This year has been crazy; it feels like life has been all over the place, changing patterns.

At some point there will be that spot where everything calms down, then everything goes chaotic again. Dark turns into bright and when there is a spot of hope it all falls back down again with changing patterns happening at the same time.

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Absence

Josiah Dunkin

photograph 13” x 19” $200

Age: 17

School: Eaglecrest High School

I used a double exposure of a figure of a man holding his arm around the girl. Her father is absent in her life even when her mom has cancer. They are struggling to be financially stable, and he doesn’t pay child support.

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Rising Beneath the Dead Foliage photograph 11” x 19” $200

Walker Edwards Age: 18

School: Eaglecrest High School

Within the lifeless forest of Elk Park, Edmonton, a singular tree rises above its peers, standing tall with its deceased leaves. In times like these, we must put ourselves first, letting us grow out of the undergrowth of anxiety we’ve developed through the pandemic, just as the tree does in Elk Park.

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Daisies

Amelia Fast

photograph 20” x 16” $200

Age: 17

School: Eaglecrest High School

This image is part of a series that explores individuals’ insecurities. As I photograph my models I ask them a series of questions to help them become comfortable in front of the camera. As the model lay there naked, her vulnerability was at its highest point. The flowers on her chest add a layer of delicacy; she compares the size of the daisies to her breasts, exposing her insecurity. With this new coverage, she relaxed and was able to fully accept herself.

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Honorable Mention

How to Fix a Broken Pot

Emilyn Fearing

archival paper, ink, marker 13” x 8.5” NFS

Age: 14

School: Denver School of the Arts

The image, How to Fix a Broken Pot, captures my self-reflection during the uncertain times of Covid—anxious thoughts quieted by what is left of my broken pot. As time fades and we attempt to rebuild our lives, there is a strong awareness of the darkness that lingers from the past two years and continues to invade our new beginnings. The cracking pot forces the girl to face the realities of a new world after she has resigned to the suffocation and withdrawal of the old. The monotone colors of blacks, grays and whites contrast with the pops of bright yellow, declaring that darkness and death will be overpowered because remnants of hope remain in the light.

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Permanent Presence

Chelsea Figur

freehand digital illustration on metal 10” x 8” $250

Age: 16

School: Boulder High School

The two subjects are sisters and my cousins. The reference picture was taken very casually, just a sweet snapshot of a small and simple moment. The two sisters have not lived near each other for years, and they reunite rather infrequently. When much of the family gathered for the first time in around five years, the loving dynamic immediately appeared. Even though each individual had grown and changed in drastic ways, the love was right there, unchanged and everlasting as ever. To me this image so perfectly captured how well that love was preserved. Despite becoming new people, despite completing major life stages, despite the distance, they are still sisters. That fact will never, and could never change. No matter how much the world takes, nothing can ever take the truth. No matter the distance, no matter the amount of time, the truth will always be here, that love will always be here. So here sits this simple moment, painted in purple, proving love’s perseverance and permanent presence.

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Bottled Up

Evelyn Gibson

watercolor 9” x 12” $1,000

Age: 17

School: Peak to Peak Charter School

I wanted to show my feeling of being bottled up and not necessarily locked in anywhere—just stuck in a peculiar situation.

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Best in Show

Stuck in Routine

Phoebe Hatch

oil paint and charcoal on canvas 40” x 30” $1,000

Age: 17

School: Boulder High School

My piece, Stuck in Routine, captures the mundanity of morning routines. I was inspired by the time I spend doing repetitive, mundane tasks to get ready for my day. Transitioning back to in-person learning and a packed schedule after learning from home last year has been a challenge. One aspect I have struggled to get used to is waking up early and getting ready to go to school in the morning. By using vibrant colors, I highlight the beauty in these seemingly repetitive, everyday tasks. I explore the technique of layering and fragmentation in my piece to show the reoccurring motions of my mornings in order to prepare for the day.

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Reaching Within

Savannah Hill

mixed media 22” x 26” NFS

Age: 16

School: Douglas County High School

Reaching Within explores the solitary conditions teenagers had to deal with through COVID as their social constructs were lost to the pandemic.

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Sophie Hodgson

digital and pencil drawing 8” x 10” $50

Age: 17

School: Peak to Peak Charter School

I made this piece during quarantine to show how I spent a lot of time inside playing videogames, as well as to communicate how it felt like my life was on pause. I wanted to represent my feeling of being lost in a harsh reality and wanting to escape that through my hobbies.

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Flight

Anderson Hoffmeyer

alcohol-ink markers 15” x 10” $150

Age: 15

School: Boulder High School

In this piece the fish represents the teenagers of the world. We are constantly in new and different environments, trying new things, and faced with new challenges, like a fish trying to fly. The ball and chain represents the past year’s challenges, attempting to drag us down, but still we rise to take on new challenges. We fly in the face adversity.

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Best Artist Statement

Is This What I Am?

Ben Kayser-Cochran

(mixed media) acrylic paint, embroidery 16” x 12” NFS

Age: 15

School: Thunder Ridge High School

This piece was about my mental state and my mindset during the COVID process. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, dealing with learning disabilities, uncomfortable with my gender, sexuality, body, and was overall unhappy with myself. The picture is supposed to depict the struggles outside trying to reflect and use those situations to grow and learn on the inside. The triangle represents the gay community. Sometimes a pink triangle is a symbol of strength for queer people. The holding of the hands is representative of the mending of the struggles and growth and using them to help me become stronger as a person. Even though there have been darker days and tough moments, it only made me stronger and helped me become the stronger and joyful person I am today.

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Shadows Behind Me

Micaela Kerrane

construction paper 10” x 8” $10

Age: 16

School: Peak to Peak Charter School

The shadows behind me are juxtaposed against the shimmering lights of hope. 2020 was a year of rain-sodden memories, sorrow, and a barrage of fallen dreams. Speaking to the theme of the show, “I’m Here,” a girl extends an open palm to the stars—a world beyond. With her back to the forest, she gleams in the reflection of the mountains, sending a shockwave of hope through the galaxy. 2020 was a year of rain-sodden memories. 2021 is a year of determination. I decided to create a shadow box to represent my past two years. Inside, is a paper version of me with my back to the forest, or the horrors of 2020, and my face to the stars, or the idea of a new beginning.

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79 New Cases

Leah Leeger

paint and collage 24” x 16” $175

Age: 16

School: Peak to Peak Charter School

79 New Cases is a piece about resilience and hope during scary and unprecedented times.

The painting in the center is a recreated version of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss and the 2 figures represent hope for a brighter, better future in the midst of this pandemic. The gold border on the outside shows how during these hard dark times there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This piece speaks to the theme of I’m Here because it shows the dark uncertain times of 2020, via the newspaper in the background and the figures in the center show the resilience people showed during that time.

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Delusional Friend

Mandy Lieng

graphite 14” x 11” NFS

Age: 17

School: Peak to Peak Charter School

During the beginning of quarantine in 2020, I had a falling out with a friend who had meant a lot to me. For the first time, I grieved a friendship. Through the process of creating this drawing, I was able to process my complex emotions and gain some closure. For this drawing, I used a variety of soft HB graphite pencils to create high contrast and intense shadows as a way to set a moody tone and reflect the subject’s strong emotions. The transparency of the glass cup and fluidity of the water provide liveliness to this drawing by juxtaposing the wilting flowers, which represent the one-sided friendship where the subject is the person who is still holding on. Even though the subject is aware that the flowers can’t survive, she expresses disinterest in the reality in front of her and continues to water the flowers in the half-empty glass.

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Azure

Kenzie Mayberry

watercolor 13.5” x 10” $45

Age: 18

School: Conifer High School

The man in this picture is what I thought confidence would look like as a human being. He is proud of his electric blue hair, which sets him apart from the other people in his world. With his head held high, his attitude basically says, “I’m here, and I deserve to be here as much as anyone else.” Nothing can break his confidence.

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Chains

Lauren McKenzie

graphite 12” x 8” $60

Age: 16

School: Monarch High School

This piece represents the feeling of being trapped and isolated in the pandemic through the imagery of chains and the solemn look on the girl’s face, and yet still finding meaning and finding beauty in smaller things and learning to grow from the experience through the small plants and flowers growing through the chains.

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Feeling Down

Gray Olson

photograph 11” x 17 ” $100

Age: 14

School: Evergreen High School

Throughout the pandemic, I’ve felt insignificant, like there’s nothing I can do. Like there’s always someone succeeding more than me, thriving more than me. The world kept going while I felt trapped in this new reality. I saw the world through a single perspective, one small part of what I was missing. Recently, that reality’s been drifting away and I can see the world for what it truly is: a chance to have fun.

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Serendipity

Nora Phillips

fired ceramic 9” x 7 ” x 7” NFS

Age: 16

School: Legend High School

This teapot represents coming out of your shell and finding joy in the dark times in life. The green blue glaze represents the darkness holding you down and the flowers represent the light and hope in the darkness that is all around us if you just look.

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Untangling

Sophia Polazkowyj

markers, oil pastels, yarn, paper, water 12” x 18” $97

Age: 16

School: Evergreen High School

My piece shows that we are still reaching to untangle what the Coronavirus has inflicted on the earth. Bright things are waiting for the world once we get free from the virus.

Coronavirus has done a lot of damage to the whole Earth, but hopefully the future will be bright and we will solve the issue together as one world.

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Crammed

Melody Reiser

mixed media 24” x 18” $30

Age: 17

School: Highlands Ranch High School

This piece represents the mundane information dump that school became during the pandemic. The colored beads are only confined to the headspace. This represents how very little creativity was expressed because there was no time for it. Each assignment was being shoved into the students’ heads, just to be dumped out and disregarded afterwards.

It simply did not feel like learning.

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Honorable Mention

Metamorphosis

Kelly Roach

graphite 18” x 12” NFS

Age: 16

School: Thunder Ridge High School

The piece is a love letter to myself, recognizing the elegance that can come through hardship. As you move upwards on the paper, it depicts patterns of growth. The butterflies in the piece reflect me—my worries, fears, triumphs, and lessons learned. It is a complete and unique image of me. Considering that butterflies are the result of metamorphosis, the butterflies are the realization of my true self as I grow and the beauty in the resilience and outcomes I’ve achieved through the process of struggle over the past year or so. My own hands, adorned with Band-Aids represent struggle, guiding the butterflies up and off the edge of the paper, or onwards in life.

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Stationary Rot

Tess Rosen

mixed media 15” x 15” $250

Age: 18

School: Eaglecrest High School

“Stationary Rot” was created to be a reflection of the cyclical nature of life in quarantine, and the effect it had on my physical and mental health. Being stuck in the same place every day, repeating the same mundane tasks slowly chipped away at me, decaying and rotting my health and destroying any sense of time. Despite this, I was able to create so much more art and improve so much more as an artist because of quarantine, so there was a certain beauty in spite of the rot.

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Drifting

Annaka Rudolph

acrylic 9” x 11” $50

Age: 15

School: Peak to Peak Charter School

This piece speaks to the theme of the exhibition because it shows isolation, and not only the negative effects, but the calming ones. It shows a sunset which resembles hope since COVID has become more normal. It has water and sand, which resemble the shifting tides of our current situation.

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Space

Maximillian Salvati

acrylic 9” x 9” NFS

Age: 16

School: Peak to Peak Charter School

During COVID, many people felt trapped and alone on their own “planet.” I used this idea to convey the thought of loneliness. As well as this, it is important to note that stars were implemented as a symbol that while it may feel we are alone, there is always something out there.

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A Peek Into My Life

Danica Smith

colored pencil 18” x 14” $1,000

Age: 16

School: Dakota Ridge High School

This piece relates to ‘I am here’ because it peeks into the most important and impactful parts of this stage in my life. It shows my skates, a poster of my friends, my confidence in my sexuality, a gift from my best friend; and most importantly me and the progress I’ve made as an individual. This piece represents everything I am and have become as a person; it shows that I am here and I am confident to show I am here.

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Girl with Noodles

Elle Staron

watercolor 8” x 11” $250

Age: 15

School: Boulder High School

Art can be a true expression of what is happening in real life, but puts it into an abstract interpretation that can be perceived differently by each observer. The surreal aspect of the painting comes into play when thinking of the uncertainty we faced. The balloon is hope for the future and how we got through tough times by focusing on normal activities of the day such as simply eating a bowl of noodles.

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Zero Days

Finn Stevens

acrylic paint and copic marker 18” x 24” $50.69

Age: 17

School: Peak to Peak Charter School

It represents the fear that surrounds our society around current events and the paranoia of the growing dependency on technology.

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Still Sailing

Louise Stewart

acrylic 12” x 11” $150

Age: 16

School: Evergreen High School

This piece speaks to the theme of the show because the little red boat represents resilience and the sunrise shows that even after a long hard night there will always be new day filled with new opportunities.

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Milk Jug and Tea Cup

Ginevra Strasser

oil 20” x 16” NFS

Age: 14

School: Denver School of the Artsl

As a musician, the COVID pandemic has cut off my ability to find avenues to express my artistic output. With live concerts cancelled, I was forced to explore ways to fulfill my desire to find artistic expression. My still life painting, Milk Jug and Tea Cup, represents my attempt to find an outlet during an exceptional time. The simplicity of the subject matter, allows me to appreciate that art can be found in multiple medium and that my journey as a violinist, can be expressed in multiple ways. In many respects, my painting states, “I’m Here,” even if I cannot perform on stage.

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Lilly Hope

Pixie Stroh

colored pencil and india ink 10.5” x 9” NFS

Age: 17

School: Boulder High School

My drawing is of one of my best friends Lilly. She is such a beautiful, kind, incredible human being, and I am so glad that I have her in my life. When I did this drawing I really got to spend time with her even though I wasn’t really there with her. She sent me the reference photo and I worked off of that, but due to COVID, we hadn’t seen each other in person for quite a while. But being able to really put effort into drawing her made me realize how much she meant to me. I also did a drawing of her twin sister, Elke, who I also care about deeply. This drawing represents how I am looking forward to being able to reconnect with friends who I have not been able to spend time with lately, and to appreciate how much their presence means to me.

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ctrl-Z

Madeline Todd

marker, ink pen, paint 14” x 19” $100

Age: 18

School: Evergreen High School

COVID-19 forced us all to be hooked to our computers. Everything from work meetings to schools to family reunions were reduced to pictures on a screen. For teens like myself, who had to go through a year and a half of high school during COVID-19, it was an unimaginable ordeal—isolation, dropping grades, and burnout were just some of the side effects that we experienced. But in this time, we found ways to break the shackles of technology and keep ourselves whole, even in this turbulent time. I chose to depict this in tentacles reaching from a keyboard, snaking out, and chaining us to our computers. But there are hands reaching out, pulling against these tentacles, remaining resilient, and not letting our screens swallow us whole. This resilience is in all of our hands, and we have the power to detach ourselves from the technology that commands our lives.

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Soul Window

Madi Walls

colored pencils and paint 9” x 12” $117

Age: 14

School: Douglas County High School

This piece is about someone who has gone through a lot during quarantine. During that time everyone was online and staring at their electronics making them soulless.

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Before Dawn

Julia Wolfe

photograph 13” x 19” $35

Age: 17

School: Evergreen High School

The COVID-19 pandemic was a time of crisis for many teenagers including myself. The quarantine caused teens everywhere to face isolation. In this isolation, we were left alone with our thoughts for a long period of time. Being stuck in your home with little social interaction forces you to look long and hard at yourself and who you are as a person. It forces you to pick apart your actions, your social life, your body, and your habits. There’s a phrase that I like to live by: “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” In relation to our recent happenings, COVID-19 was one of the darkest times mentally for many kids around the world. This piece represents the transition from that darkness to the dawn in front of us. A transition from a pandemic to connecting again around the globe. Melancholy tears turned into something beautiful.

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About Center for the Arts Evergreen

BRINGING THE ARTS TO EVERGREEN SINCE 1974 What started as a dream by local art enthusiasts in 1974 has become a lasting community resource. Center for the Arts Evergreen (CAE) provides quality art instruction, exhibitions, and events. Our main gallery showcases local and nationally-acclaimed artists in both curated and juried exhibitions. We offer myriad educational opportunities for adults and children in the visual arts, writing, and art history. In September of 2017, Center for the Arts Evergreen moved into the newly renovated and historic Bergen Park Church, which additionally features a retail shop filled with artisan handmade gifts for any occasion. Visit us for monthly cultural events, concerts, lectures, artist demos, wine tastings, and much more.

OUR MISSION To enrich and serve our mountain community by promoting and cultivating the arts through quality educational programming, exhibitions, and events.

WHO WE SERVE Schools, preschoolers, teens, young adults, senior citizens, adults with special needs, singles, and more. CAE embraces diversity, equality, and individuality. Artists at all levels of their development from beginners to professionals.

ALL CREATIVES CAE includes creatives in all mediums and in all forms of artistic expression: the visual and performing arts, literary arts, music, and other forms of artistic expression.

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2022 Programming Calendar UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS January 13 - February 12, 2022

I’m Here: Teen Exhibition

February 25 - March 26, 2022

Saturation: Danny Williams and Helen Rudy

April 8 - May 7, 2022

All-Call Show

May 20 - June 25, 2022

In One Space (guest curator Michele Renee Ledoux)

July 15 - August 5, 2022

130 for $130

August 12 - September 9, 2022

Heritage: Mexican Masks

September 23 - October 29, 2022

Rocky Mountain National Watermedia

November 4 - November 26, 2022

Retrospective

December 1 - January 3, 2023

CAE Member Show

UPCOMING EVENTS January 27, 2022

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusivity Panel

March 31, 2022

Winter Concert: Manas Itene

June 4, 2022

Day of the Arts

June 24, 2022

Summer Concert: (TBA)

July 15, 2022

Summer Concert: (TBA)

July 23 & 24, 2022

Summerfest

August 5, 2022

130 for $130 event

August 26, 2022

Summer Concert: Moors & McCumber

September 30, 2022

Summer Concert: Turntable Revue

December 3, 2022

Winterfest

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES Women’s Art Circle (various bi-monthly events) CAE Book Chat (virtual, third Wednesdays of the month) Listen, Learn, & Create Change (bi-monthly speaker panels and workshops)

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P.O. Box 2737 | Evergreen, CO 80437 | evergreenarts.org | 303.674.0056