by David Rea/ThisWeek

Gallery 202 owner Renee Kropat poses with student artists Brittany Sitz (center) and Chelsea Lilley. Sitz is a freshman at Westerville Central High School and Lilley is a fifth-grader at Wilder Elementary School. Their artwork will be on display through January.

Students' artwork on display

Thursday, December 15, 2005

By MACKENZIE WHITE

ThisWeek Staff Writer

Ninth-grader Brittany Sitz's love of shows such as "Trading Spaces" grew into ambitions to be an interior designer.

And Chelsey Lilley's mom says keeping her fifth-grade daughter in art supplies "nearly breaks the bank."

The talents of both young artists are gaining some early exposure, as their artwork is on display at Gallery 202 in Uptown Westerville through January.

Lilley's work includes an African painting, a beaded piece, a mask and sculptures of a fish, gargoyle and unicorn. The gargoyle, she said, "is supposed to be sort of an armadillo."

Sitz, a Westerville Central High School student, has a framed oil painting and a portfolio of other paintings, oil pastels and pencil sketches on display at the gallery.

The exhibition of Lilley's and Sitz's work is the first of its kind at the gallery.

Renee Kropat, Gallery 202's owner and curator, said the program aims to provide a way for youths to promote their artwork and to encourage arts participation at all age levels.

"I sent out a lot of requests from teachers and parents to let me review some of the students' work," Kropat said.

As the program continues, she hopes to have a quicker rotation of youth artwork through the gallery, she said.

Kropat had never worked with Lilley before, but met Sitz when the girl helped with the Uptown Mural Project in 2004.

"Sometimes children don't necessarily want to hear what's going to make something better," Kropat said.

Sitz was different, Kropat said; she was very receptive to suggestions.

"I've been interested in art probably since the fourth grade," Sitz said.

She said her interest began when she started watching shows such as "Trading Spaces," a home improvement show on The Learning Channel.

"And from then on, I've wanted to be an interior designer," she said.

Now, her favorite such show is "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" on ABC.

Asked to identify her favorite medium, Sitz paused. "Hmm, that's hard," she said. "I really like pencil or charcoal."

Lilley said she prefers sculpture.

"I just like how you can work with the clay and not have to have it two-dimensional, because I think working on a piece of paper is sort of boring," she said.

Lilley's mother, Chris, said her daughter has long been "a very artsy-crafty" person.

"We're very proud of her," she said. "We encourage her."

Gallery 202, Partners in Art Inc. is located at 38 N. State St. The second-floor Co-op Gallery is open from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday, from noon-4 p.m. Thursday and Friday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, or by appointment.