On March 5, the Shippensburg Arts Programming & Education Gallery (SHAPE Gallery) opened its doors for their newest exhibit titled “Unmuted.”

The exhibit features a variety of mediums taught throughout the art curriculum at Shippensburg Area School District (SASD).

Youth Art Month was created in 1961 as a way to support quality art programs for grades K-12. More than 85 artists from the school district had their artwork displayed, ranging from watercolor pieces to graphite only pieces. 

“Mrs. McClay is the art teacher at the high school, and it was her idea to collaborate with the SHAPE Gallery,” Cynthia Dobson, art teacher at Nancy Grace and James Burd elementary schools, said.

Many of SASD schools are just getting back to in-person learning due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. 

“This is just really powerful because it’s kind of a coming together, like this year has been so unusual. It shows how art persisted through that, even though not everybody was in person at the same time,” Dobson said

Normally, SASD would hold its annual art shows at the schools. However, due to the pandemic, officials put the event on hold due to large crowds. Dobson mentioned how the students got excited when they heard their artwork would be featured inside of a real exhibit. 

Also, in attendance at the gallery was Shippensburg Mayor, Kathy Coy. Coy delivered a proclamation for the month of March as Youth Art Month. 

“It is very eventful and very nice to be able to see that we have local artists here,” Coy said. 

The gallery plans to have five more exhibits throughout the year. The next exhibit will feature artwork recognizing Mental Health titled, “Ele-MENTAL Expressions.”

The gallery has also been working hard to make sure their art classrooms are COVID-19 safe before re-opening to the public. Additionally, the SHAPE Gallery also offers the curiosity corner, which gives children a chance to create artwork based off their own curiosity. 

SHAPE Gallery also plans to have its camps open during the summertime. Their camps include: Cell Phone Photography, A Bug’s Life, Clay Pottery 101 and Painting Art Experiences.

The SHAPE Gallery is located at 19 E. King Street. The SHAPE Gallery is open from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The Gallery is also open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. “Unmuted” will be on display at the SHAPE Gallery until April 2. 

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