Young Artists In Advanced Curriculum

The teenagers enrolled in the Advanced Curriculum for Teens fine arts scholarship program, ACT Glassell, train their talent on animal subjects in Pet Show, on view through February 15, 2007 in the Upstairs Gallery at the Glassell School of Art, 5101 Montrose Boulevard. The school is the teaching wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Inspired by Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today, which opened last fall at the MFAH, the 16 students each produced their own pet interpretations for this exhibition. Most of the subjects are dogs, but there is one cat, one cat and dog combination, and a flamingo. The works are rendered in pencil, colored pencil, watercolor, mixed media, and collage.

Just as Best in Show demonstrated that dogs are noble subjects worthy of portraiture, the young artists depict the animals as more than pets, covering the full spectrum of the dog from a position of royalty to a plaything for a bemused cat. Among the images are a melancholy St. Bernard, a couple of gloomy English Bulldogs, a cheerful puppy staring out between blades of grass, and two puppies precariously settled upon a dinner plate.

Exhibition participants include Matthew Black and Angela Ortiz, Humble ISD; Brittany Bradford, Spring ISD; Abby Cho, Jessica Davis, Iris Miao, and Janice Shang of Katy ISD; Ivet Gonzalez, Orlando Gudino, Sergio Gutierrez, and Alex Santos of Pasadena ISD; Eric Ruiz and Lily Wu of Alief ISD; and Stacy Vanderworth and Rebecca Young, Houston ISD; and Katie Jeffers, Westchester Academy for International Studies.

ACT Glassell provides an outstanding fine arts program for the most creative 9th - 12th grade students in the public, private, and parochial school systems of Harris and surrounding counties. These future artists, designers, and architects receive an exceptional education in all facets of contemporary artistic practice through ACT Glassell´s innovative curriculum, specialized faculty, affiliation with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the partnerships that the Glassell School of Art has with area universities. Students that are selected for ACT Glassell are offered a full scholarship into the program through their senior year in high school. This gives teenagers the optimum opportunity in the region and makes ACT Glassell the most dynamic and educationally ambitious art program in the state of Texas. -- www.mfah.org