Youth Gallery

Look for the Youth Gallery between the Box Office and Re-Runs!

Lakewood's Youth Gallery showcases the work of our outreach classes, schools from around Oregon, and individual artists. An exhibit typically displays for 1-2 months and the art can be for sale or not for sale.
Commission from any sold work benefits Lakewood's Youth Outreach programming

If you're interested in exhibiting work in our youth gallery, please contact Angie: angie@lakewood-center.org

Rania Sheikh Mosa
Through Nov. 22

Rania, a 19-year-old artist from Syria, discovered her passion for art after moving to Turkey with her family to escape the war. At the age of 8, Rania was diagnosed with a malignant cancerous mass, leading to multiple surgeries and a long recovery. During this time, unable to pursue formal education, she turned to art as a way to overcome loneliness and rebuild her self-confidence. Through her creative journey, Rania found her identity as both an individual and an artist.

Rania primarily works with acrylics, but also incorporates chalk and watercolors to express the natural beauty she sees around her. Her artwork blends elements of nature with her imagination, creating pieces that reflect both her surroundings and her emotions in the moment. Inspired by the outdoors and new landscapes, Rania's art carries a message of hope and perseverance, encouraging others to keep striving for their dreams no matter the challenges they face.

Rania's Final Artist Statement - English p. 1, Arabic p. 2-1

Past exhibits:

JACOB OTTUM
Fall 2024

Fall 2024: Jacob Ottum

Please stop by our Youth Gallery to see the work of Jacob Ottum. Jacob is a 12 year old digital artist from Meridian Creek Middle school in Wilsonville. He hand draws his images onto a digital canvas and does not use AI.

Jacob’s Artist statement:

My art tends to be rough, jagged and full. I like making my art rough because it makes it more interesting.  I work with unique shapes. When I work around weird shapes it makes me want to fill all of my digital canvas.

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YOUTH ART SALE

November-December 2023

The Lakewood Center for the Arts is thrilled to announce the Student Art Sale at Re-Runs, featuring an exquisite collection of artworks crafted by the talented students of Lake Oswego and Lakewood’s Youth Outreach program partnership schools. This shopping event promises a delightful fusion of creativity, expression, and the opportunity to support emerging artists.

Proceeds from the art sale will support the budding artists, providing them with valuable resources and encouragement to continue their creative journey. A small portion of the sales goes to Re-Runs, which assists Lakewood’s mission of inspiring and nurturing a love of the arts with project and programming support.

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FOLK ART OF MEXICO

August-November 2023

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We were excited to partner with the Clackamas ESD Migrant Education Program for a series of summer art classes with artist Lisa Bauso and Youth Outreach Coordinator Angie Stambuk. The MEP summer program allowed us to work with 27 students in Mollala. Two groups, K to 4th and 5th to 8th, took a deep dive into Mexico’s rich cultural history by learning about and creating traditional Mexican artwork. Activities ranged from mask making with feathers and paper to constructing Alebrijes with air dry clay.

Not on view (but a really cool part of the class!):

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MASK ART

Masks in Mexico are used in a wide variety of dance, ceremony, festivals and theatre. The most common uses are with traditional dances, which are a form of theater, with characters, storyline and music, but the performers are not professionals.The purpose of the masks it convert participants into other beings or characters. Students used precut masks made of rigid paper, acrylic paints and embellishments of feathers, beads, raffia and glitter.

Watercolor Workshop at Kraxberger Middle School

KRAXBERGER WATERCOLOR WORKSHOP

On view January-February 2023

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Sixth grade students in Audrey Delgado’s Art 6 class began a study with watercolors by experimenting with a variety of watercolor techniques, such as glazing, resist, salt, dry brush, gradations, and wet-into-wet. 

Sonia Allen, a Salem-based artist, came into the class for 12 sessions, leading student artists through in-depth color mixing, exploration of the color wheel, and creating neutral colors. Delgado and Allen introduced the artist Marc Chagall, with a particular focus on his painting ‘I and the Village’. Students created symbolic images to represent their home or neighborhood, a person who is important to them, a memorable event from their life, and something they feel strongly about. They sketched images onto watercolor paper with attention to composition, and then were challenged to paint using colors that they had mixed themselves, rather than straight out of the paint palette. Additionally, their paintings had to include at least three of the different watercolor techniques that they had practiced. 

After the paintings were completed, students wrote a detailed, thoughtful reflection in which they described their process and explained their chosen symbols and their meanings.

Marc Chagall, with a particular focus on his painting ‘I and the Village
The students drew inspiration from Marc Chagall, with a particular focus on his painting ‘I and the Village'

The mission of Lakewood Center for the Arts is to inspire and nurture a love of theatre and the arts. A big component of Lakewood’s mission is to ensure the arts remain accessible to all. To that end, the Youth Outreach Program was created in 2018 for the Center’s annual Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts. Since that time, the program has grown beyond the Festival to include a larger number of participants, different communities, and a variety of year-round art programs that Lakewood Center/ Lakewood Theatre Company offers to the region.

The goal of the Youth Outreach Program is to create opportunities for youth in the greater Portland area to participate, both as artists and audience, in all that Lakewood has to offer. Lakewood strives to bring opportunities to the under-served youth in the region, whom, because of geographic, socio-economic, cultural or language barriers have limited access to arts education.

Lakewood Center hopes the program will facilitate conversations with youth, their families, and thier supporting organizations, resulting in open collaborations and a better understanding of how to continue to create meaningful experiences. Lakewood Center recognizes the importance of creating an inviting, diverse and inclusive environment for participants as artists, students, and audience.