The Panorama Invitational opened Feb. 5 to show the art works of high school juniors and seniors from Bakersfield. The show, located in the Wylie and May Louise Jones Gallery in the BC library, will run from Feb. 5-26.
According to Margaret Nowling, the gallery director, this was the first gallery showing for the students in a professional space. The exposure that it gives to them allows them to see what their peers are doing from around all the schools and gain inspiration in what they see.
Some mediums used included oil, acrylic, ink and graphite. One artist even used pieces of cardboard to create the piece. Some of the observers were overheard expressing how well done the pieces were for being high school students.
“I really liked the charcoal, oh, and the pink sphynx cat,” said Kelsey Coffman, a BC student.
Elaine Bae, a Liberty High artist, said, “It’s all positive vibes and very exhilarating.”
She said she is very proud of herself for coming this far. Although, she did explain that despite her love of art, she wishes to study other areas, such as psychology.
Bae also added with a quiet laugh, “I’ve been drawing since I was little and my mom would tell me to put away my papers for drawing because it got in the way of my homework.”
For her art piece titled “The Chalice, The Mirror, and The Bangles,” she opted to use charcoal as her medium. The invitational is a yearly event that invites all of the local high schools to attend, but not all of them do because of busy schedules. The gallery is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.