BELLOWS FALLS — “I got bored … then realized there’s a lot of creative kids around here,” said Nina Simoneaux, the idea person behind the one-day youth art exhibit being held at 33 Bridge St., from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 14.
Simoneaux, 18, of Langdon, N.H., a former Fall Mountain School student who will attend Pratt Institute in New York this fall, said that when she realized the number of youth in the area who had no place to showcase their work or come together as a group, she saw the exhibit as a natural outcome.
“They shouldn’t have to wait [until they are established artists]. We can make our own community,” Simoneaux said.
“There’s not really any place to take life drawing classes or printmaking classes that aren’t geared towards artists who’ve been doing their art for, like, 30 years. It can be extremely intimidating. At a special event like this, we can showcase our own work, and we wouldn’t be so intimidated,” she said.
“I’d like to see [someone] do this again, do more art shows [for youth] to encourage kids to be artistic,” Simoneaux continued. “They should know that it doesn’t have to be a solitary thing.”
She doesn’t know if anyone will pick up the torch after she leaves for school.
Caitlyn Brackenbury, a 19-year-old home-schooler, said she will work toward earning her GED over the next year before she heads to San Francisco to attend hair-styling school.
“I’m passionate about hair,” she said, smiling demurely. “It’s like sculpting.”
“She’s good at it too,” Simoneaux added.
Brackenbury’s contribution to the art show will be a dress that employs used and emptied tea bags as material.
“I drink a lot of tea, and I didn’t want to waste the paper,” she explained. “The tea bags are a lot like fabric, and I love sewing.”
“I’m not always doing art,” she said. “But I like to have something to do that is not studying or watching movies.”
“I like working with my hands,” Brackenbury said. “When I’m done with this piece, I’ll feel like I’ve really invested myself in it.”
Simoneaux and Mariah Edson, co-producer of the art show, expect between 8 and 14 youth aged 17 to 20 to bring paintings, sculpture, and poetry, handmade items like Brackenbury’s dress and Simoneaux’s knapsacks and artful long underwear.
“We’re just going to hang out together, and hopefully people will come see our work,” Simoneaux said. “People can bring musical instruments too if they want. There will be music and we’re going to have food to eat.”
“In the spirit of a mini farmers’ market, teenage artists from the area and beyond will show their work,” Simoneaux wrote in the event’s press release. The event will also include crafts, sculpture, paintings, weaving, clothes, poetry, and food.
The show is open to the public and is appropriate for all ages.