A recent art show in downtown North Vernon celebrated Jennings County history and culminated efforts by multiple groups.
The free, public art exhibit June 1 at the Stellar Building reflected months of work by the Jennings County High School art department, Columbus artist Bobby K. Owens, student artists and the National Endowment of Arts and the Indiana’s Arts Through Learning.
The evening included the premier display of two major art pieces completed by Owens depicting images of Jennings County history.
Work on the exhibit began last fall when Karen Chilman, director of Jennings High’s art department, applied for and received a grant from the Arts for Learning project to fund two art projects depicting local history.
The project included a visit in December from storyteller Bob Sander, who encouraged students and the public to remember and visualize Jennings County’s significant events, places and people.
More than 80 suggestions to include in the project were forwarded to Owens, who was commissioned by the NEA and Arts Through Learning.
“I am proud to say I included every single submission I received in these,” Owens said, as he looked at one of the two large wall hangings.
Many of the suggestions were visual images created by Jennings County High School art students.
Chilman said the wall hangings were created “in Bobby’s style with Jennings county material and stories.”
The wall hangings will be mounted and framed and permanently displayed. One will be displayed in a North Vernon city building and one will be displayed at Jennings County High School.
Works by students in the high school’s Advanced Placement art class were part of the show, too.
“That was designed to give the experience of hanging an art show and understanding what actually goes into the proper display of art,” Chilman said.
Student artist Shelby Millspaugh said working on the exhibit taught her a lot about composition.
“There is more to it than you think. You have to think about what is appealing to the eye and how to make everybody’s work show in the best way possible,” she said.
