By Rianna James and Elijah Ogbomo, 2022 Education Interns
On August 4th UrbanGlass hosted an event for teens called Teen Gallery Sketching. The event was in-person and free for any age of teens to join, relax and draw in the gallery that showed the artwork and sculptures of the artist Nate Ricciuto.
The exhibit, which is currently on view in UrbanGlass’ Agnes Varis Art Center, is called Subsidence. The show was inspired by the odd space between technology and fantasy, and explores ideas on drawing with sci-fi imagery, outsider ideologies and countercultural aspirations. Ricciuto investigates the potential of delusion and speculation while embracing idealistic, inclusive, radical and flawed visions of the future.
The artist we helped lead the event was Suzanne Head. She is a painter, glass artist, and sculptor who received a BFA in drawing from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2016. Most of her artwork symbolizes internal and external struggle. She talked about her perspectives on the exhibition and of her own work.
The students had a spectacular time. They were able to learn from Suzanne and the process she goes through when creating her artwork. As the event went on they felt calm, relaxed, and inspired as they drew. The event was successful in offering a safe place for teen artists to indulge in their creativity, while also experiencing the exhibition in the gallery, surrounded by the other artworks on display.
Here is a note from us, UrbanGlass’ 2022 Bloomberg Interns, on our experience during the event:
Hey y’all I’m Elijah Ogbomo, I’m one other intern alongside Rianna James helping out with the teen event with Suzanne. It was well put together and successful and I had a good time drawing and learning about the gallery. Especially being around my friends, who are artists as well, and our Bloomberg college mentors participating and seeing what our jobs look like working here. Being in that space I just felt relaxed and calm in a place where I feel passion in what I do.
I am Rianna James, one of the interns that helped Suzanne run the event and I had a great time! It felt nice being surrounded by artists who took in the view of everything they were witnessing and putting it onto paper. Suzanne taught us how to sketch out the initial idea of a drawing and that it’s okay if we have a lot of guidelines for our drawing. I would attend an event like this again because I like having a quiet space to be creative and not feel overwhelmed.
UrbanGlass’ Agnes Varis Art Center is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30am - 7:30pm, presenting public exhibitions of contemporary glass art alongside the UrbanGlass|ware store. Visit us in-person, or check out our website to learn more about upcoming programs and classes for all ages!