LHS art teachers works exhibited at LA Arts Gallery

LEWISTON — The Gallery at LA Arts is exhibiting “Homework: New and Recent Works by the Art Teachers at Lewiston High School,” from Dec.15 through Jan. 20. An opening reception, coinciding with the final Artwalk of 2017, is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 15,from 5 to 8 p.m. at LA Arts, 221 Lisbon St.

Artists included in the exhibition are: Jody Dube, ceramics; Nathaniel Meyer, painting, Kyna Pitula, drawing and painting; and Sarah Stocker, photography. The Gallery at LA Arts is open Monday to Friday from 12-4 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ; closed Wednesdays and Sundays. The gallery will also be open for Sparkle Sunday, Dec. 17. The exhibition will run through the month of January.

Jody Dube is a Lewiston native with a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Southern Maine. Dube has been teaching ceramics at Lewiston High School since 2001 and he received the Maine Art Education Outstanding Service to the Profession award in 2017. Dube’s work reflects the long-standing vessel tradition in ceramic art, with emphasis on sculpture and form over function and utility. The passage of time and the issues of decay and renewal are central to the imagery and conceptual content for his ongoing series of cups and vessels. Dube is also involved in composing music on guitar and bass. In his teaching, he seeks to open students up to making art as a means of centering themselves and finding peace and focus in an increasingly chaotic world.

Nathaniel Meyer, based in Portland holds a cachelor of fine Arts in painting from Boston University and a master of fine arts in visual arts from Lesley University College of Art and Design. The recipient of the 2015 Monhegan Artists Residency, he has exhibited his work both nationally and internationally. In addition to painting, Meyer records and performs traditional string band music and teaches drawing and painting at Lewiston High School.

For Kyna Pitula, art is a way of life, not a hobby. She has bachelor’s degree in art edducation from University of Maine Orono and received her master’s degree in clinical mental health from the University of Southern Maine. Pitula has used her practice of drawing and painting to integrate her love of art with her need to help others. The experience of using art as a vehicle for therapeutic healing has added depth to her work and has given her a solid foundation for teaching the students at Lewiston High School. Pitula has gained insight and new ideas through her students and feels that she has become more successful as an artist and a teacher through their enthusiasm and energy.

Sarah Stocker has been a teacher in the Lewiston School Department for the past nineteen years. She has developed a high school photography program for students, teaching both traditional film and darkroom skills as well as digital photography. She is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology and holds a degree in photographic illustration. She worked as a freelance photographer in advertising in the New York metro area prior to moving to Maine and teaching photography. She resides in Arrowsic with her husband, Tom Stocker.

FMI: to to http://laarts.org/ or call 782-7228