MBSS student artwork on display at Cranbrook Arts exhibit

Cranbrook Arts’s latest exhibit ‘A Piece of Me’, takes us inside the mind of local youth to find out what they’re passionate about and how they see the world.

It features nearly 140 works of art from Mount Baker Secondary School students, including paintings, sketches, collages, jewellery, sculpture and photography. The theme encouraged students to create art that represents who they are — their hopes, dreams and challenges.

“It’s a portion of themselves that they want to share. It can be a colour that resonates with them, or it can be more personal, like somebody in their life or something about them,” said art teacher Cheryl Wilkinson.

Some of the art deals with more serious subject matter, like mental health, body image and bullying.

“After the pandemic, the art did change. You could see the struggles people were having and that really came out in our artwork. Art is always a good way of showing what society is going through. Teenagers are a good gauge of what’s happening,” Wilkinson added.

Grade 11 student Payton Hansen painted a set of acrylic images on the back of two skateboards that depict his happiest day — spending time with friends at the half pipe in Balment Park.

“I just thought of something that I enjoy doing and that makes me happy,” he said.

“I just want people to see the environment I enjoy being in. The skatepark gets a bad rep, but it’s a fun place and there’s lots of friends, everyone hanging out having a good time.”

Although Hansen has had a passion for art since he was young, he didn’t start painting until this year, having preferred to sketch mainly in pencil and ink.

Kimiko Terai’s acrylic painting is of two cats vacationing on Napili Beach in Hawaii, drawn in the style of American cartoonist B. Kliban. Terai said Hawaii is one of her special places, being the site of many annual family vacations.

“I just really like the sun and being outdoors. I love summer. It’s my favourite part of the whole year when we go to Maui. It’s a good piece of me. I would like to spend more time there when I can,” she said.

Terai said she was first introduced to B. Kliban’s cat art through Hawaii retail company Crazy Shirts, which features his images on its apparel.

Adele Stahl combined her passion for art, nature and reading, by making wooden bookmarks for the exhibit.

The idea stemmed from a business venture that Stahl started two years ago; selling custom bookmarks made from leftover scraps from her father’s woodworking.

“There’s always bits of driftwood around the house, so I kind of just experiment with different sizes and colours,” she said.

The scenes that she paints on her bookmarks have included birds, architecture, and more recently nature and trees.

Wilkinson said she hopes the exhibit will give the community exposure to art outside of the professional sphere.

“I think their art is very important here. [It] gives people a chance to see things outside the realm of art that people buy to put up in a living room space. They are driven completely by their hearts,” she said.

The exhibit will be on display at Cranbrook Arts’s gallery at 1401 5 St. North until May 26. There will be a reception on May 24 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.