Much on display at Art Fest in Petersburg

Petersburg played host to the region's budding artists at this year's Southeast Alaska Regional Art Festival, running from April 20 through the weekend.

"It went well," said Ashley Lohr, Petersburg High School's art teacher.

The community last hosted the festival in 2011. Thirteen high schools sent 102 students to this year's four-day event, much of which focused on honing artistic skills at an array of workshops. Eighteen 15-hour workshops were available to participating students, each of whom could choose two to take.

Orchestrating the festival is always a challenge, from finding venues to hold workshops to making arrangements to host students and visiting teachers.

"Because school was still in session, I really had to reach out to find some locations," said Lohr. While it took a bit of legwork to find space around town, a number of instructors were a bit easier to find, having been involved in the festival for quite some time.

"Typically you have your consistent attendees and art teachers, and they always pick up a workshop to teach," she explained.

There are always opportunities presented for more localized courses, as the festival rotates to different communities year by year. Petersburg visual artist Doris Olsen presented one on acrylic painting, for instance. Students brought in color printouts of their preferred sea creatures, then learned how to recreate them using techniques in color mixing, glazing, layering and pointillism, in which points of color are arranged to form a larger image.

Local seamstress Savann Guthrie taught a course on quilting arts, while Petersburg poet Lee Ribich and artist Sean Barnes showed students how to compose nonets and present them through collage.

Photographer Tanya Somerville showed her students how to make the most of digital camera functions, as well as how to enhance their work using Photoshop. Visual artist Andrea Weathers held a workshop encouraging students to craft deeply personal journals for themselves , while teaching them concepts of color theory, watercolor and other skills.

With so many schools participating, Art Fest also gives seasoned artists and instructors from around the region the opportunity to share their skills to new pupils.

Lohr invited back Tommy Joseph from Sitka, who held a course on creating a functional halibut hook from two woods of different density. The traditional design has been used by local fishermen for generations.

"He seemed to enjoy the experience," said Lohr.

Another instructor who has long been a part of the festival is John Harris, from Skagway. His course focused on jewelry, using an assortment of beads, metals and glass. Students created rings, bracelets and other arrangements.

New to the festival was Ellie Carlisle from Wrangell, who taught students the art of paper mask making. Also from Wrangell, art teacher Anne Luetkemeyer had students build their own paper sculpture light boxes, layering photographs or drawings and illuminating them with LED strips.

Craig school instructor Ronnie Fairbanks coupled traditional designs with more modern applications, showing students how to design and apply formline art to longboard decks. Haines teacher Linnus Danner presented a course on reduction block printmaking, where a multi-color print could be made by shaving away portions of the same block.

There was a special effects makeup course, where students constructed face casts with which to create monsters fit for the silver screen. Young artists could learn to wield parallel pens with calligraphic skill, or could turn their pens to designing copper etchings.

Finally the festival culminated in an art show at the high school gym on Sunday. Individual instructors picked out their favorite pieces from among their classes to display, and awards are given out in more than a dozen categories to various artists.

"It was both well-received by the community and well-attended by students," Lohr said. "It was an all-around success."