Brandon Hill, Mercer Island high school sophomore and watercolor artist
The Mercer Island Visual Arts League (MIVAL) has just launched a new program for young, aspiring artists. The new program, MIVAL Junior, supports, mentors, and empowers young artists in Kindergarten through 12th grade to initiate art events, create art, network, and participate in art-related activities.
The program was the inspiration of Brandon Hill, a Mercer Island high school sophomore and aspiring watercolor artist. Brandon noticed that outside the classroom, few opportunities existed on the Island for high school art students to exhibit their art, to interact with adult artists or to mentor younger artists.
He approached MIVAL and the Mercer Island high school (MIHS) Art Club faculty with the idea to create such an organization to augment MIVAL’s existing scholarship program, its annual junior art show and MIHS’s art curriculum. After a series of meetings with both organizations, the MIVAL board approved the creation of MIVAL Junior.
MIVAL Junior has scheduled two future community events: 1) a holiday art workshop for children (K-8) in December; and 2) a children’s art exhibition at Covenant Shores’ Lighthouse Gallery in May 2017. It will also lead MIVAL’s annual Junior Art show at Summer Celebration in July 2017.
While students on and off-Mercer Island of all ages can participate in MIVAL Junior events, MIVAL Junior is currently only managing memberships for high school students. High school students interested in joining MIVAL Junior can email [email protected]. Membership responsibilities include helping to organize and staff MIVAL Junior events.
Mival Junior Holiday Art Workshop
All budding artists are invited to the Holiday Art Workshop, which takes place on December 10th from 1 to 3 pm at the Mercer Island Community & Events Center.
The workshop, designed for kids in Kindergarten through 8th grades, will be led by MIVAL artists with help from MIVAL Junior volunteers. Participants will create personal holiday cards and/or gifts for friends and family.
Space in the Holiday Art Workshop is limited. Click HERE to register. Please register before December 5th.
Learn more about MIVAL at www.mival.org.
Photo: Brandon Hill painting in the studio of his grandfather, Owen Hall, also a Mercer Island resident and member of MIVAL and the Northwest Watercolor Society. Contributed by Virl Hill.
