Photo Gallery

Student Art Shows

A menagerie including a tiger, a horse and a nervous dog appears in a digital photography exhibit by Battle Ground High School students at Battle Ground Community Library's SWIFT Gallery. It's one of four student art shows that opened Friday, from Battle Ground to Ridgefield to Vancouver.

County and beyond

At North Bank Artists Gallery in downtown Vancouver, the "Clark County and Beyond" art teacher and student show features more than 50 pieces from artists grades 6 to 12.

In its second year, the show added work by art teachers from Clark County schools. Participating high schools are Camas, Columbia River, Evergreen, Heritage, Hockinson, Hudson's Bay, Mountain View, Vancouver School of Arts and Academics and Woodland. Middle schools participat

ing are Alki, Discovery and the Gardner School. The teachers served as curators and winnowed the entries for the exhibit.

"We want to provide a professional outlet for student artists," said Rachel Aponte, North Bank member artist and part of the gallery's education committee. "Their art must be titled, priced and ready to hang."

The exhibit, with media including painting, pencil, photography and sculpture, runs through Jan. 26.

Graphic design show

Just across the street, the Vancouver Food Co-op is hosting the "Fort Vancouver High School Graphic Design Show" through Jan. 31. First-year students in Emily McGowan's graphic design course at Fort Vancouver studied the work of modern artist and graphic designer Rex Ray, then created multi-layered, original works featuring repeated patterns and custom textures using computer software programs Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Focus on the Future

The "Focus on the Future" student art show at Alcove Art Gallery in Ridgefield features artwork by kindergarten through grade 12 students from all four Ridgefield public schools. The gallery requested art teachers to submit artwork from each grade level.

"You look at this wall of art and can't help but smile," said Marilyn Hocking, Alcove Art Gallery member and outgoing president of the co-op art gallery.

"The show includes the primitive, colorful, spontaneous, delightful work of elementary students and more realistic charcoal and watercolors by high school students," said Hocking.

All art can be viewed on the gallery's website through January.

Candid Creatures

"Candid Creatures: A Closer Look at Animals" is an exhibit by Battle Ground High School digital photography students. It runs through Feb. 28 at the SWIFT Gallery inside the Battle Ground Community Library. At a Jan. 11 reception, the public can meet the student photographers and discuss their work.

Each student was asked to submit two shots: a broader shot and a close-up shot of an animal.

"Some of the close-up shots may be difficult to identify at first glance. We like to keep the public guessing," said Emmy Pellico, digital photography teacher at Battle Ground High School.

Some students brought rats and dogs into the school's photo studio.

"The animals were constantly moving and challenging to photograph," Pellico said. "One of the dogs was nervous about the lights, and I was worried he'd have an accident," Pellico said. "But he didn't."

Susan Parrish: 360-735-4530; http://twitter.com/col_schools; susan.parrish@columbian.com.