Young Artist, Julia Bennati, Exhibits Work at Gallery 202

Gallery 202 announces the exhibition of artwork by Julia Bennati, a student at North High School in Westerville. Julia's is the third student to exhibit in what is planned to be a regular feature of the Uptown gallery.

"When Gallery 202, Partners in Art, Inc., located a space to offer workshops, classes and exhibits, we also wanted to provide a special program for local youth talent to promote their art," said Renee Kropat, Gallery 202¼s owner and curator. "One of our co-op gallery goals is to provide regular art exhibits for students and provide a program to encourage the growth and participation in the arts at any age level."

Julia said she became interested in art at a very young age. "I always loved and looked forward to art class in elementary school. I was lucky to have my parents to push me into art because they knew how much I really loved it," she said.

"Julia's artwork is fun and makes me laugh," said her mother, Debbie. "She is this shy person to the world, but has so much going on in her head that is expressed through her art."

Debbie said her children always have been interested in and making art. "I guess because I was a first grade teacher I always had stuff around that they could work with," she said.

"A few of my earliest recollections include the day Julia came into the house with some heart-shaped leaves she had found. She glued them together to form a layered sculpture of hearts in large to small sizes," said Debbie. "She was in the first grade and kept that work of art for many years."

Julia said she knew she had become an artist when she began to go through "stages" in her work. "My first serious stage was what I called 'the Sculpty stage,' where I made animals out of Sculpey polymer clay and gave them to my friends and family," said Julia. "I was pretty serious about them and had a special little kiln to cook my creations in."

As a second grade student, Julia received a blue ribbon in the Westerville Arts Festival for one of her Sculpey clay objects. "I believe the Arts Festival was a catalyst to her confidence in producing art," said Debbie.

Today, the young artist says she enjoys working with acrylic paints, and is looking forward to attending art school. In fact, a good number of the works on display at Gallery 202 were acrylic, although the young artist also enjoys designing clothing.

"Julia¼s exhibition at Gallery 202 has been wonderful," said Debbie. "She has met so many artists and has been encouraged by the people who see her work."

"In working with Renee, Julia has discovered the needs of the community in relationship to art. Renee is wonderful at coming up with ideas that get people involved in all kinds of art," she said.

"Being the featured students has been great because Julia has pushed herself to produce even more works that people will enjoy," said Debbie. "She also has had inquiries from those interested in purchasing her art."

Art for the monthly student exhibits is chosen through a jury process. Students are recommended by their teachers, school administrators, parents, or themselves. Any child at any grade level may be considered for an exhibition. Support for the exhibits comes from sponsors.

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