CAZENOVIA — This month, the art gallery at the Cazenovia Public Library & Museum (CPL) is showcasing the work of Cazenovia High School’s printmaking classes.
The CHS Visual Art Department consists of teachers Adam Reynolds and Julie Frear. This year, the department has 260 students, almost 50 percent of the student body. The teachers instruct eighth- through 12th-grade students in a variety of full- and half-year classes.
According to a press release announcing the CPL Gallery exhibit, students begin with an eighth-grade exploratory class; throughout high school, they can proceed with elective options such as studio art, photography, drawing and painting, sculpture, Advanced Placement studio, comic book illustration, creative crafts, and advanced options of some classes.
“In each of the classes, students experiment with the fundamentals of technique, design, and composition, using a variety of materials,” the press release says. “Units of study often utilize similar themes or materials, with options for growth as a student progresses through the classes.”
For students with extra interests in art, the program offers college credit, independent study options, and an art club.
According to Frear, students can take an independent study if they have completed an art class and have a recommendation from one of the teachers.
“This often occurs if a student has taken an introductory level class, such as photography, and an advanced level, such as advanced photography, and would like to continue with the subject,” she said. “They are placed in an existing art class that fits their schedule, but they are responsible for creating more advanced work with teacher guidance; there is not as much emphasis on instruction. They often use the time to explore series work or new materials and techniques.”
The after-school art club began meeting informally in 2022 and became official in 2023. Meetings, which generally draw between eight and 12 students, are focused on experimenting with techniques and materials that might not be used in the larger classes.
“Sometimes students simply want free time to create,” said Frear, who advises the club. “We have created group art for spaces within the building, and students are responsible for helping to place artwork in the main office and display cases.”
The May CPL Gallery show will highlight multiple printmaking techniques — linocut, drypoint, collagraph, and eraser printing — as explored in studio art, sculpture, drawing and painting, and the art club.
Frear described printmaking as an art form in which the artist creates an image on a surface, generally called a plate, and can then replicate the image from that plate. The number of prints the artist can produce depends on how well the original plate holds up.
“We introduce a variety of types of printmaking in the high school,” Frear said. “Examples include monoprinting on plexiglass plates; relief printmaking from carving materials like erasers, linoleum, and wood blocks, then printing the raised areas; and intaglio printing, which is carving into plexiglass and printing ink from the grooves. Once the plate is made, students roll ink onto the surfaces and print onto dampened paper, either by rubbing the paper or running it through a small press. Many of our students would argue that the hardest part of the project is not the carving, but rather printing a quality succession of prints.”
The CPL Gallery’s exhibits are coordinated by the CazArts creative alliance, a non-profit organization that promotes the creation and appreciation of the arts in the greater Cazenovia area.
“CazArts has a high school student on our board of directors,” said Geoffrey Navias, the board’s president and curator of the May exhibit. “We reached out to the high school knowing that the Cazenovia College gallery was no longer available for annually showcasing student work. In support of the arts and building a vibrant community, we believe that it is important to recognize the younger artists and the high school art program in our community. . . . Printmaking highlights students of different ages and showcases a specific artistic study within the high school arts program. The library gallery is small; by focusing on one form of art making, we hope to create a unified exhibit.”
CPL is open Monday through Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on the CPL Gallery, visit cazenoviapubliclibrary.org/museum-gallery/gallery/.
To learn more about the CHS Fine Arts Department, visit sites.google.com/caz.cnyric.org/departments/departments/fine-arts.
Learn more about CazArts at cazarts.com.
