Slice of Life: Students on Display

HARLINGEN — They’re impressive all right.

Other descriptions include colorful, creative and interesting.

A pair of students from Brownsville’s James Pace Early College High School will be showing off their serious art skills starting tomorrow night at the Harlingen Art Forum.

But, that’s not all. Their portfolios also have earned them some scholarship dough.

Francisco Garza will receive a $1,200 scholarship, while Vilma Torres will receive $800, both to be used for their college education.

Garza will attend the University of Texas – San Antonio for architecture, while Vilma will attend UTRGV for design.

“These kids have taken their ideas, developing it into other things, which is exciting,” said artist Sue Tarrant, a former art teacher, who organized and led the scholarship competition and show.

All Cameron County independent school district seniors were invited to participate in the art competition. Tarrant said it is important for art students to enter as much as possible.

“It is always an excellent opportunity to show their work in a competition and in this case, they had to write about their artwork and come up with an artist’s statement,” Tarrant said.

A total of eight students entered this year and portfolios included as many as 10 digital submissions of their work.

“These are wonderful pieces of work,” Tarrant said.

Garza and Torres each submitted 15 works in their portfolio and the judging was based on that scope of work. They each provided five actual works for the show.

In his essay, Francisco writes the purpose of his work is “to grab the viewer’s eye by emphasizing the beauty present in ordinary or simple everyday subject matters.”

“Composing art for me is a method of expression and exploration of one’s curiosity,” he writes. “I use art to encapsulate my fascination and curiosity of architecture and manmade structures as well as to provide an interesting, yet simplistic scene of abstract compositions.”

Vilma talked about her various efforts in different mediums in her essay.

“Because art has been the best and only way of how I manage to express and fulfill myself, I am willing to study art and photography, to learn other ways of creating art as well as to pursuing having a business where I can keep studying, teaching what I know and sharing what I have created,” she wrote.

Tarrant said she hopes the students will be in attendance tomorrow night.

If You Go

WHAT: Harlingen Art Forum student scholarship display

WHERE: Harlingen Art

Forum, 115 E. Jackson

WHEN: Tomorrow, Friday, April 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. The works will be on display throughout much of May.

WHY: See great artwork by some local students, including winners Francisco Garza and Vilma Torres

Sign up for art class

Student at classes will be held at the Harlingen Art Forum for two weeks in July and now is the time to sign up.

The weekly classes run from July 9 to 12, from 10 a.m. to noon and from July 16 to 19, also from 10 a.m. to noon.

The cost is $45 per session.

The classes are for youth ages 8 to 18 and will include such lessons as composition, painting elements and much more.

Call 425-4030 or sign up at the Harlingen Art Forum, 115 E. Jackson in downtown Harlingen.