For ECA, It's A "Small Small World" After All

David Judd Photos.

The floor of the Susan B. Hiles Gallery has been transformed into a rugged landscape of cragged foam ridges and cliffs. Perched on the ledges are paper houses, hanging precariously over the cliff face. Many sit with their front steps over the edge, the stairs leading to nowhere. Isolated houses sit on smaller cliffs far above the landscape below, looking down over their distant neighbors. 

The homes each contain small slices of life. A plume of smoke rises from the chimney of one house, while small paper animals play in the front yard of another. In the adjacent Tiny Gallery, the glass shelves are adorned with intricate miniature sculptures, made of a variety of materials. Despite their small size, these sculptures require second and third looks to fully take in their complexity.  

The work in these two galleries makes up Small Small World, running June 8 through 30 at Creative Arts Workshop on Audubon Street. An exhibition of student work from Educational Center for the Arts (ECA), Small Small World shows 3D analog and 4D digital media and fabricated work by ECA students. The show marks the culmination of an interdisciplinary class taught by ECA artist faculty Willie Stewart and Visual Arts Department Chair Johanna Bresnick. 

The work of the students in Kevin Van Aelst’s photography class also adorns the walls of the gallery, offering a window into the students' lives. Engineered in photoshop, the pictures bring new and profound perspectives to a familiar world. 

This exhibition marks the inaugural collaboration between Creative Arts Workshop and ECA, which stand across the street from each other in the Audubon Arts District. Earlier this year, CAW opened its doors to its nearby neighbors, allowing students to work in its studio space throughout the semester. Between the two arts facilities, students had a vast amount of resources to let their creative energy loose and develop their artistic talents. 

The Small Small World theme challenged students to play with the concept and abstract nature of scale while leaving lots of room for them to craft their own interpretations. 

“Everybody has different ideas of what's small, which is kind of interesting and allows for a lot of interpretation,” said Bresnick. “The Small Small World theme works individually and collaboratively, so the students can create their own unique ecosystems.” 

For junior Max Barrett, the theme gave him the opportunity to make a world that was entirely his own. His robot stands alone across from the foam cliffs, and contains a complex world that encompasses every surface of the four foot tall structure. From mushrooms sprouting from the feet to the skull to houses in the robot's chest and on either shoulder, the robot is alive. 

“My goal was to make an environment in every inch of it," Barrett said. "So every time you look at it, you'll find a different environment for something to interact with."

The entirety of the upstairs Creative Works Gallery, meanwhile, is dedicated to the senior showcase. A culmination of seniors’ four years of artistic exploration, the exhibition showcases the finest works picked by the artists themselves. The exhibition is entirely curated and installed by the students and features video, drawing, painting, 4D digital and experimental media, printmaking, collage, sculpture, darkroom and digital photography pieces. 

Each student was tasked with selecting three of their pieces to display, and as a result the show contains work that defines their personal growth and artistic journeys throughout high school. 

All of the work is unlabeled, allowing the evocative emotions of the works to speak for themselves. Although many of the pieces are so different in nature, the collection flows together as a whole, with strong emotions of hope, apprehension, and resilience shining through. 

One piece is a white canvas covered with bold black letters spelling out “YES!” and “NO!” alternating across the page to show the confusion and uncertainty that comes with growing older. The wall across from this contains complex and personal portrayals of the artists’ lives, showing the viewer a snapshot of their world. 

Some of the pieces are abstract and bursting with eye-catching visuals and colors. In this exhibition the young artists show what they already bring to the table, although for many of them their creative journey is just beginning. 

Across the street at ECA’s academic building,  the exhibition continues. The narrow hallway of the fifth floor is brimming with student work. Prints, photographs, and sculptures line the walls while stop motion videos play on the screens of the classrooms. 

Printmaking teacher Karen Dow, whose students’ work is displayed throughout the hallway, praised the dedication and perseverance of the students.

“Printmaking takes a lot of time and effort before students can see results, but they were very focused and hardworking this semester,” she said.  

With the opening of the student showcase, ECA celebrates the end of another successful year of artistic learning and exploration for its students. At the opening, teachers said they hope for many more years working in partnership with CAW to continue to give young artistic minds the tools to succeed.