Three Kutztown students were winners in 2015 “The Nature of Nolde” Student Art Competition. Their artwork will be on display at the newly renovated Art Plus Gallery in West Reading through the month of January.
Kutztown seventh grader Marina Schnell won first place for her “Nolde Wren House.” Kutztown eighth grader D.G. Thea La Mastra won third place for her “A Sight of Autumn.” Kutztown fifth grader Fiora Schnell won honorable mention for her photograph titled “Nature’s Dance.”
Partners of Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center held the contest for Berks County students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Winners will be the first featured exhibit at the newly renovated gallery, which held its grand opening Jan. 8.
Kutztown eighth grader D.G. Thea La Mastra created a piece containing assorted leaves and flowers of autumn.
“There is such a variety in fall but it’s all perfect, the temperature, the crisp air, and best of all the colors of nature. Whether it’s trees lining streets in the city, the vast rolling hue of mountains, your own backyard, or being surrounded by the Nolde Forest, you will find color, texture and shapes from nature at their best,” said D.G. Thea. “Because this season always inspires me I wanted to capture just one small part of it.”
Every time D.G. Thea was outside she was collecting, her words, “superior specimens of the beautiful world of nature.”
“I pressed these leaves and made them into a little time capsule of sorts of my favorite season,” she said. “It was so exciting that my art made it with the top tree out of the school to a public exhibit. Winning third place in my section out of the whole county was really inspiring for me.”
Marina Schnell said her ceramic wren house, inspired by Nolde Forest, was intended to be used.
“When I went to Nolde Forest, I thought about how so many things provide shelter for other things: a mushroom provides shelter for an insect, a bird’s nest shelters eggs, a log gives shelter to a snake, a creek shelters a fish, and a tree shelters it all. This wren house, too, would provide shelter for a bird and give it a place to live, like so many other things at Nolde Forest. It also shows the many kinds of shelter that I saw at Nolde Forest,” said Marina.
Marina fired the wren house in her own kiln in her home garage. She glazed house with homemade glazes created from local, natural materials, clay and wood ash.
“The clay is from the banks of my family’s creek, and the ash is from winter fires in our fireplace. The entire wren house is inspired by the feeling of shelter that I got from Nolde Forest,” she said.
Marina really liked the Nolde Forest Art Contest.
“I loved Nolde Mansion and the forest itself, and I’m glad that the contest got me out to see both of these things. I also enjoyed the challenge of trying to create a piece embodying a feeling,” she said. “I think that this was a great opportunity, and the art was easy to enter, too. I liked seeing other people’s takes on the contest, as well as what they noticed about Nolde.”
Another thing Marina found interesting was seeing places depicted in the art at the exhibit that she had seen in real life.
“I saw a painting of a bridge that I saw while hiking,” said Marina. “I enjoyed taking part in this contest, and would definitely enter again.”
Her sister Fiora Schnell, a Kutztown fifth grader, entered her photograph “Nature’s Dance.”
“I like taking pictures because when I look at something from a new angle it changes what it looks like. I like to photograph lots of different subjects depending on the place, and what is happening,” she said. “This day in Nolde Forest was quiet, calm, and peaceful so I could pay more attention to what I was looking at. My sister and I were enjoying the creek. There was not always a lot of water but even when the rocks, logs, leaves, and bark were only in a bit of water, they still looked pretty.”
Fiora had never entered an art contest before, and she thought it could be fun. She was excited when she found out her work had received an honorable mention in photography which was open to all grades.
She was happy with the photograph she entered, and she was glad that it was recognized by the judges.
The Schnell family all went to see the exhibit of the finalists’ work. Fiora thought the mansion was a beautiful building, and it was nice to get to see a part of Nolde Forest they hadn’t been to before.
Fiora also enjoyed seeing what other people had done, and what kinds of artwork they like to make.
She plans to keep taking pictures, and she would consider entering the contest again next year.
Marina and Fiora’s mother, Lisa Schnell, said their involvement with the Nolde Forest Art Contest began when Mr. Ashman suggested that this contest would work as part of one of Marina’s school assignments.
“The girls and I took a hike so she could gather materials and develop her ideas. Fiora became interested in entering the contest, too, so while we were there she took lots of photos with the hopes of submitting one of them,” said Lisa.
Lisa liked that the contest guidelines were very open, but said the contest was also a little intimidating to the girls. She really enjoyed the conversations they had as the girls shaped their ideas, refined their work, and wrote their artist statements.
“Marina loves clay. Everything becomes ‘clay’ in her hands – paper that she shreds and folds, melted candle wax, mashed potatoes. She plays with actual clay on her own all the time, but she doesn’t usually get to share what she does with other people. The idea of entering her work in an art contest was something new and intriguing to her,” said Lisa.
Lisa said Marina often likes to makes objects that are useful, such as bowls, mugs, serving platters.
“But what did that mean in the context of a forest-inspired contest? She came up with the idea of a bird house, and modeled it after a simple clay wren house we have at home. When she made her own wren house, she added lots of detail inspired by things she observed in the forest,” she said.
Lisa also talked about Fiora’s photography.
“Fiora has gone from being annoyed with me for taking so long on hikes (because I take so many pictures) to being curious about how the different settings on my dSLR camera work,” she said.
On a trip this past summer they talked about lighting, perspective, and how aperture and shutter speed affect a photograph.
“I loved watching her scooting around on the rocks and logs at Nolde Forest. She experimented with different subjects and angles and took lots of pictures,” said Lisa.
The photo entered in the contest was taken with a small camera she and her sister share.
Lisa expressed her appreciation for everything that Kutztown Middle School art teacher Kris Tuerk has done for Marina. Fiora hasn’t had the chance to take her classes yet.
“Marina loves her art classes in school, and Ms. Tuerk also provided wonderful opportunities for Marina to explore her love of clay in the after school art program,” said Lisa. “Steve (father) and I are proud of our girls for sharing their work, and we hope that their involvement in the Nolde Forest Art Contest will encourage them to continue exploring what they can do with art.”
She also expressed her gratitude to the contest organizer, Russ Slocum, for the time and effort he put into the Nolde Forest Art Contest.
“It was a great opportunity for our children-and everyone who entered-to get outside and think more deeply about place and the arts,” said Lisa. “It’s wonderful to see school-aged children receiving this sort of attention and support in the arts in Berks County.”
Art Plus Gallery is located at 604 Penn Ave., W. Reading. Gallery hours are Tuesday noon to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For a full list of Nolde Forest Art Contest award winners, visit http://www.artplusgallerypa.com/nolde-art-contest.html. For more about the gallery call 610-375-9122, email info@artplusgallerypa.com or visit http://www.artplusgallerypa.com.
