Out & About: Young artists display talent in SAMA-Ligonier Valley show

Madeleine Cooper started with 20 dots placed randomly on a piece of paper and ended up with artwork fit for a museum exhibit.

A second grader at R.K. Mellon Elementary School in Ligonier, Cooper is among more than 150 young artists chosen by their teachers to participate in “Artists of the 21st Century” at the Southern Alleghenies Museum at Ligonier Valley.

The annual exhibit is open to Westmoreland and Fayette county public and private schools, along with home-schoolers, who participate in SAMA’s Arts in Education or Artist in Residence programs.

It runs through April 30 in the facility off Route 711 just south of the borough.

At a March 4 reception, the young artist said her teacher, Brandon Rensko, told the class they would be making monsters. They were tasked with connecting the dots, marking them off in separate sections, adding patterns and then coloring them in.

Artists featured in the exhibit range from kindergarten to 12th grade, and they work in various two- and three-dimensional media.

“Every year, the students do such stellar work,” SAMA-Ligonier Valley site coordinator Kristin Miller said. “This year the diversity of the work is just phenomenal.”

Miller also noted that the show grows every year, “and that is really, really exciting.”

Seen at SAMA: Clare Kaczmarek, Jason and Jennifer Cooper, Eli Cooper, Kelly Vallely, Erika White, Jonathan White and Katie Moffa, Lauren Mahkovic, Ian Bortz, Jesse and Madchen Mahkovic, Landen Mahkovic, Merick Johnson, Sarah Johnson, Susan Menoher, Kate Menoher, Kristen Eckels, Alex Sangaline, Dave and Marcie Sangaline, Lucas Sangaline, Sydney Dainty, Lynn Dainty, Joe Sayfield, Brennan Sayfield, Collin Sayfield, Annie Lindsay, Tommy Crary, Susan and Edwin Gordon and Sara and Tim Reilly.