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The County Student Art Show, associated with the Stanly County Arts Council’s Celebration of the ARTS, was recently held at the Stanly County Agri-Civic Center.

For those who were unable to visit and view this art exhibit in person, the Stanly County Arts Council has announced that a virtual option has been developed with the assistance of Joshua Cross, associate professor of art at Pfeiffer University, and is available for the public to enjoy.

Links to the galleries can be found on the Events Page of the Stanly County Arts Council’s website at stanlycountyartscouncil.org or on its Facebook page.

The galleries will only be available until April 15.

Cross photographed and cataloged each piece of art submitted. Cross then inserted each piece of art into the program Artspaces, developed by Kunstmatrix.

This program allows the visitor to view the student art as though it is hanging in a gallery. Options include a guided tour of the exhibit or one may tour the exhibit as you would like with the use of arrows.

There are a total of five galleries to explore; two for the K-8 schools, two for the high schools and Stanly Community College entries, and one for the United with Ukraine special exhibit by the students of South Stanly High School.

This virtual opportunity will allow friends and relatives, near and far, to experience the talents of the many young visual artists in the community.

Virtual galleries became a necessity of the pandemic, allowing visual artists to still showcase their work in a safe manner.

The local art teachers were also excited by this technology.

Many planned on “walking” through the virtual art galleries alongside their students, explaining the different techniques utilized by the various artists.

“The Student Art Show would not have been possible without the support and cooperation of the many visual art instructors involved in Stanly County. Special thanks is extended to Joshua Cross for going the extra mile to create the virtual galleries and allowing the Arts Council to share the talents of our youth with all,” said Renee VanHorn, executive director of the Stanly County Arts Council.

The Stanly County Arts Council was founded in 1974. It continues to promote and support art forms in the community. Its mission is to encourage and promote broad-based cultural and educational activities in the arts throughout Stanly County.

The Stanly County Arts Council is supported by private donations and by the NC Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Exhibit links:

K8 Gallery 1:  https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/9698806/stanly-county-emerging-artists-k8-gallery-1

K8 Gallery 2:  https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/9729769/stanly-county-emerging-artists-k8-gallery-2

HS & Post Gallery 1: https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/9698985/stanly-county-emerging-artists-hs-post-gallery-1

HS & Post Gallery 2: https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/9730274/stanly-county-emerging-artists-secondary-post-gallery-2

We Stand with Ukraine Gallery: https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/9698949/stanly-county-students-4-ukraine