On April 30th, the Cultural Arts Center of the Ketcham Inn Foundation hosted its third annual Student Art Showcase. Located across from the historic inn itself, the center served as a gallery within which student artists from Center Moriches High School displayed their work.
The Ketcham Inn along Montauk Highway in Center Moriches has stood for more than three hundred years, serving as a tavern, a public house, and, in recent years, a book store. With the inn itself almost fully restored, the Ketcham Inn Foundation has begun expanding it’s outreach to include arts promotion and education.
Bonnie Bredes, Educational Liaison at the inn and librarian at Center Moriches Middle and High Schools, can’t help but beam when she speaks of the work the foundation is doing. “[The Student Arts Showcase] is a wonderful opportunity for the community to come see the kids display their artwork. We have so many talented artists in the school district.”
Young artists from grades 6 to 12 get the priceless opportunity to see their art displayed in a real gallery alongside the work of their peers. They are enrolled in a host of art classes offered at the schools from studio art to ceramics to AP portfolio.
Lillian Babzien, a 7th grader, had her hidden letter art on display at the gallery. “The whole 7th grade did one,” Lillian said proudly. “It’s a bunch of shapes, and in the middle you have to look for a word. Mine is ‘music.’”
She, amongst the other artists represented at the gallery, loved having her work there. “It’s cool because I see this amazing art, and I’m a part of it…The high school pieces are really cool.”
If they maintain their passion up through high school, students have greater access to a broader range of facilities. Laura Sandberg-Dejohn, a ceramics teacher, is excited about the new equipment available to her students.
“The PTA donated a [potter’s] wheel to us, and we have since gotten two more,” she said. Her class already teaches students how to make pinch pots and do hand-building and slab work, but now they can offer throwing as well.
As far as Sandberg-DeJohn is concerned, the more art, the better. “There’s a lot of pressure on kids today with the Common Core and all of these standards. It’s such a nice break from the day. Kids can come in and sit, create, hang out, and make awesome art work.”
Julia Meehan, a student of Sandberg-DeJohn, thoroughly agrees. “I’m in 4 AP classes,” she explained, letting out a sigh. Being a scholar-artist is nothing to scoff at. “My art classes are a great way to de-stress and not worry so much about academics…It’s important for kids to have an outlet that lets them express themselves and show the world who they are.”
Her excitement is audible as she describes her piece at the gallery, a green ceramic pot with white glazed stripes running vertically down the sides. “Working with clay is relaxing…you can work with your hands, and it’s a cool skill to hang on to.”
The Student Art Showcase allows artists in all grades – across schools – to share, experience, and be inspired by each others’ work. It also affords the community a chance to see the products of the schools’ art classes. Art programs struggle enough for funding as it is; the wider the message can be spread that arts education is vital, the better.
Rene DiMeo, another art teacher at the high school, shares the same vision. “You can never get off your soapbox about art education,” she said. She and her husband are both art teachers on the island, and with a young daughter, they want to see a world in which the arts are never left on the sidelines.
“You always have to say how important [arts education] is to everyone and try to educate people about it because they might not understand…We all love beautiful art that goes on the wall, but aside from that, everything is being designed by an artist. So if you don’t have artists, then what do you have?”
It’s this community understanding and knowledge that the Ketcham Inn Foundation is trying to foster on a greater scale. “We’re going to break down the walls [in the gallery] and renovate the barn [next door] so it can function as more of a flexible art space,” Bredes explained. “We can host poetry readings, art exhibits, plays, you name it. We want to connect the two buildings as well.”
The Ketcham Inn Foundation currently owns property adjacent to the Center where they intend to host educational classes on nature and local history. They are working in conjunction with the Moriches Bay Historical Society, as well, which owns the Havens Estate just down the road.
As for the gallery, it’s impact is already being seen. Shannon Sweeney, a 12th grader whose work was featured in the showcase, was impressed with the turnout. “More people will come, and more art will happen,” she predicted with a grin. “It reaches everyone and changes how people view their community.”
For more information about the Ketcham Inn Foundation and it’s upcoming events, please visit http://www.ketchaminn.org