Coquitlam's Evergreen Cultural Centre is marking the new year - and its 15th anniversary - with a festival.
And it will focus its celebrations this Sunday on teens, that is, very, very creative high school students in the Tri-Cities.
The party starts at 4 p.m. with an opening reception for Emerging Talent XV, a juried art show that presents more than 50 works from Grade 12 students in School District 43.
In total, 40 young and "emerging" artists from Dr. Charles Best, Centennial, Port Moody, Heritage Woods, Terry Fox, Gleneagle, Riverside and - for the first time, Pinetree - have created original paintings, digital art, photos and sculptures for the annual exhibit.
And "a lot of it is very high quality," said Astrid Heyerdahl, Evergreen's visual arts manager who spent hours organizing the pieces according to categories like dark images and feminist ideas. "Even the jurors were saying this is one of the best years yet, technically and conceptually."
Picking what to show on the art gallery walls were retired art teachers Eunice Hodge, Keith Levang and Jerry Pietrasko.
Hodge, who taught at Moody junior high in Port Moody, said she was especially pleased with the photographs and graphic art entries. "I'm used to judging student work from all levels. This was a very good year, and many of them were in the top level," she said.
Indeed, a quick tour of the display last week revealed some stand-outs, most notably The Absence of Innocence, a graphite on paper drawing by Parris Beauchesne of Riverside secondary; African Memory, an acrylic on canvas painting by Ashley Madeiros of Centennial secondary; and The Reflecting God, a pastel and pencil crayon work by Yuliya Yaremenko of Port Moody secondary.
Heyerdahl said all of the entrants will be continuing their studies at post-secondary art schools and some have already been accepted at major institutions outside of Canada such as the School of Visual Arts in New York, California College of the Arts and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Many also have received early admission to Emily Carr University of Art + Design.
Emerging Talent is a way to boost their portfolios before they head off, she said: Not only do the students get a chance to showcase their skills in a public setting but they also are asked to prepare artist's statements and receive critique.
Meanwhile, the festival will also include short documentaries - to be shown at 5 p.m. - produced by Grade 9 to 12 students who are part of Teens @ Evergreen. The inaugural group, which is made up of eight students and their mentor, Pia Yona Massie, last year received a $15,000 Spirit of Coquitlam grant to pay for their video equipment.
After the docs, there will be live performances by the 13 students part of TETE (Teens @ Evergreen Theatre Ensemble), which has been meeting twice a week under the guidance of Michael Charrois and Mandy Tullock.
Finally, at 6 p.m., attendees can view short films (under 10 minutes in length each) created by SD43 students at school.
Heyerdahl said she hopes next year's Emerging Talent Festival will expand even further to include poetry and dancing.
For more information on the Emerging Talent Festival, visit www.evergreenculturalcentre.ca. The art show runs until Feb. 18 at Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam). The gallery hours are Monday to Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.
