Murphy – Mike Lalone is kind of a big shot in local artistic circles.
Among his accomplishments are his tenure as a long-term resident artist at John C. Campbell Folk School’s clay studio and founder of Empty Bowls, a fundraiser for local food banks. His latest endeavor puts him back in touch with middle and high school students after a 40-year career as an educator.
Lalone presented a high school senior outstanding artist with a scholarship and one of his clay crafted mugs on April 20 at the Murphy Art Center downtown.
“I want to build up awareness of the arts,” he said. “Kids have different interests in life. Not everyone is interested in academics or sports.”
Lalone believes art is another niche for kids to excel in.
The Cherokee County Arts Council sponsored the Spring Student Art Show in cooperation with the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, which allocated funds for cash prizes and ribbons for the winning students. David Vowell, director of the council, was thrilled to hold the exhibition.
“We’ve easily been doing this for 10 years,” Vowell said. “This event is the only opportunity for students and schools to show the community their work.”
Cherokee County middle and high school art teachers curated the work by choosing art produced by their students. Murphy Middle School art teacher Cristen Clonts said the students are sometimes reluctant to allow their work to be considered for the show.
“We have to beg them to submit,” she said. Paris Annas, a first-year art teacher at Andrews High School, made a memorable splash.
“I just want to see them succeed,” Annas said before the awards ceremony. By the end of it, Andrews High students would sweep the show, receiving four awards.
Lydia Rogers, a Murphy High School junior, won the “Best in Show” award for her category in watercolor and ink. Her work, titled “Closet,” showed the inside of a large closet, full of secrets and bulking shapes.
“I like the shape and colors,” Rogers said, examining her work. She said her favorite part of painting is the speed. “I like that it’s slow; it’s therapeutic.”
After all the awards and cash envelopes made their way into the young artists’ hands, Lalone presented his $500 dollar scholarship in honor of his parents. Murphy High’s Guenevere Day-Turse won the honors with her haunting two-piece sculptures of a male and female torso. She used stoneware clay with a bisque-firing washed with iron oxide.
Her sculptures balanced fierceness with fragility.
“The winner is chosen on skill, the entire portfolio and the history of the youngster,” Lalone said. He chose the artist who he felt would “keep pursuing art.”
For a complete list of the winners, see the Cherokee County Arts Council’s Facebook page.