By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Niles and Brandywine High School students will have the chance to put their artwork on display at this month's exhibit at the Niles District Library.
The library will be hosting the third annual Brandywine and Niles High School Art Show in the Eleanor &Mowitt Drew Gallery from March 1 through March 27.
Niles High School drawing teacher Mike Isabell thinks it is great for the students to have a local outlet to show off their work.
Brandywine High School art teacher Kathy Egbert also thinks it is a wonderful opportunity for the students.
Brandywine students contributed paper mosaic projects in which they cut out different colors from magazines and combined them to make pictures. The paper mosaics include some very impressive pieces including a portrait of an American Indian and a scene of people surfing at the beach.
Another outstanding piece of art is a portrait of classic movie star Anne Sheridan done with charcoal by Brandywine student Jim Merrill.
The work from Niles High School came from both Isabell's drawing classes and from Lisetta Zahm's three dimensional art classes.
Mickie Spencer, coordinator of the library's gallery, said the addition of three display cases have made this the first year that the library was able to display three dimensional art.
The work from Zahm's class includes ceramic pieces with a cartoon or Walt Disney theme. The display cases are full of colorful sculptures of Nemo, Bart Simpson and Winnie the Pooh to name a few.
Isabell said there are 53 pieces of art on display from his beginning and advanced drawing classes alone.
He said while a majority of the work comes from class projects, some of the artwork comes from projects the students bring in from home. This year many of the pieces have come from Isabell's self-portrait class project.
He said the high school will be having another local gallery at the Riverfront Cafe sometime in May and some of the students' art will also be on display at the Krasl Art Show and at the Berrien County Arts and Science Expo in April.
Spencer said the high school show has been very well received in the past and thinks this year will be no exception.
In addition to displaying local talent, Spencer said the library's gallery looks to bring in major artists with more of a widespread appeal.
This is apparent with the the gallery's next exhibition "Paris Portfolio 2002," a photographic exhibit by Lou Mack that will begin on April 1.
The Eleanor &Mowitt Drew Gallery is located in the Niles District Library's Rotunda and can be viewed during regular library hours: Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.