Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Tristan Lotz | 190111-N-ME396-036 GROTON, Conn. (Jan. 11, 2019) - Kelsey Morales points to the "Save...... read more read more
GROTON, Conn. – The Naval Submarine Base (SUBASE) New London Youth Center hosted its annual youth art contest, Jan. 11.
This year’s contest featured a category on energy conservation and environmentalism and was held as part of an open house so families could appreciate the artwork and children could play and socialize with friends.
“This is a year-round thing we do with the kids,” said Felicia Hernandez, who works at the SUBASE Youth Center and coordinated the exhibition. “They make art and we put it up and display it. We showcase all kinds of art. We have oil pastels, watercolor, collages, and now environmental theme posters. We want kids to bring awareness to that.”
The central hallway of the SUBASE Youth Center was decorated with artwork by children of all ages in different styles, formats and subject matter. Members of the community were invited to judge the artwork and offer critiques and place ribbons on winning pieces.
“We invite families in to see the art and they can have a fun night,” said Heather LeFlash, a coworker of Hernandez. “We were recently talking about energy conservation and wanted to find a way to support that through the youth center and we decided to create a category on energy conservation. I’m so glad we had so many children coming out for this.”
Among the community members invited to judge the artwork were Andy Shetland, SUBASE Installation Energy Manager, and Joseph J. Rivera of Hygienic Art Gallery in New London. This was the first time a representative of an actual gallery took part in the event.
“This comes at a cool time because at our gallery we’re doing an exhibition on teenagers and young children’s art,” said Rivera. “It’s great seeing younger kids’ work because you can see a lot of potential. I think a lot of adults are afraid to even give art a try, but you see these kids and no matter how old they are, a lot of these works could be hung up in someone’s house. Knowing the artwork is by kids gives it a nicer presence about it. There is a purity to it.”
The artwork by the children ran the gamut from simple colored pencil sketches of people or animals, to complex acrylic paintings warning of potential ecological devastation, to small clay sculptures of houses or dreidels. Many earned red or blue ribbons from the 4-H Club, and one environmental-themed painting was so impressive that Shetland asked Youth Center employees for the name of the artist so he could request permission to submit it on their behalf to the Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic (CNRMA) 2019 Battle “E” for Energy contest.
“I came in yesterday and they said I needed to make some artwork for tomorrow,” said Kelsey Morales, a high school student who painted the poster. “I ended up getting home from work at 10 p.m. and I found a small enough canvas and just started sketching until the idea struck. It took me four hours—I didn’t get to bed until around three in the morning!”
The news that Shetland wanted to submit her poster for SUBASE New London’s 2019 Battle “E” for Energy entry came as a pleasant surprise to Morales and she said it was an honor to have her poster chosen for such a contest. She added she put all her effort into the painting.
“I love painting and have been doing it since I was little,” said Morales. “I’m really glad it came out so well and it’s really exciting that Andy wants to use my work.”
SUBASE New London won the video and poster categories for the 2018 CNRMA Battle “E” for Energy contest. Shetland stated Morales artwork will be submitted for the command’s 2019 competition season.
| Date Taken: | 01.11.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 01.24.2019 13:36 |
| Story ID: | 308086 |
| Location: | GROTON, CONNECTICUT, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, SUBASE New London Youth Spread Energy Conservation Awareness, by PO2 Tristan Lotz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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