Southwest Georgia student artwork, wins state, national recognition in River of Words competition

SHELLMAN – In an old Vidalia onion barn-turned-art-gallery, 55 works of art and poetry from southwest Georgia students sit on display.

The exhibit displays the works of local winners who participated in the Regional Georgia River of Words competition, an initiative of Georgia Project WET, whose mission is to bring water education to K-12 students around the world. The competition tries to connect “kids to their watersheds and imaginations through poetry and art.” 

Four local students received National Finalist recognition: Snow Adams, a Bainbridge pre-kindergarten student; Ellie Jane Faircloth, a Whigham first-grade student; Arrow Adams, a Bainbridge first-grade student and Alessa Hobbs, a Thomasville fifth-grade student. Four local students had standout entries on the state level: Madilyn Davis, a Thomasville fifth-grader; Graciana Espinoza, a Leesburg sixth-grader; Phoenix Adams, a Bainbridge ninth-grader, and Mia Burnett, a Sale City 11th-grader.

“We’re excited, and we’re looking forward to doing this even more next year, giving the opportunity for the connection between the kids or experimenting and expressing themselves to an experienced artist,” Shawn O’Connor-Veazie, the community grant specialist at Golden Triangle RC&D, said.

There were 127 southwest Georgia student entries. The Shellman Center for Art and Rehabilitative Energies (CARE) Gallery hosted a grand opening for an exhibit, showcasing the works that went on to state and national competitions. The student artists displayed their pieces alongside their families.

The student art lines the CARE Gallery, displayed alongside works by internationally celebrated artist, Ray Pierotti. 

“They got to meet Ray and see a real artist, and he showed them his studio and some of his life’s work,” O’Connor-Veazie said. “You could see how enriched they were.” 

The quirky pieces display water in different forms: a mosaic, textured sea turtle, a black and white photo of a water tower and a water colored manatee in a colorful seascape. 

Some of the students opted for poetry. 

“Orange smells like salty shrimp for dinner. Orange feels smooth and happy,” Arrow Adams wrote in his poem titled “My Beach Vacation.” 

Walter Lewis, co-owner of the CARE Gallery, said it’s been wonderful to see the students’ art alongside Pierotti’s. Lewis, who is a Shellman native, said young future artists in southwest Georgia inspired him and Pierotti to open the gallery in Shellman. 

“When I was in school here … we had art and music and band and choir,” Lewis said. “Today, in the small schools, they don’t have the arts anymore. So we were planning to contribute to the community to expose young people to some of the fine arts and crafts.” 

O’Connor-Veazie said the Golden Triangle RC&D works to assist the CARE Gallery in this mission, making sure that Pierotti’s work is recognized locally as well as giving regional artists a platform for recognition. 

He said more creative art shows are in the works. This is the second year the organization’s supported southwest Georgia students in the River of Words competition. 

“It’s been a state competition for over 30 years, but there were never any winners from our area,” Kelsey Powell, a Golden Triangle RC&D program specialist, said. “We wanted to bring the regional competition here. You never saw winners here, and in our first year, we had one to go to state. This year, we had like seven or eight go on to state and then national competition.” 

Pierotti’s current displayed works mark a re-entry into creating for the artist. Pierotti suffered a stroke four years ago.

“For one year after the stroke, he didn’t know how to paint – didn’t know what do do at all,” Lewis said. “This is his resurrection.” 

The pieces feature layers of inkodyes, acrylic paints and colored pencils. They were exposed to sunlight, creating a natural evolution of the pieces. They’re colorful geometric patterns, astrological and planetary in nature. 

In Shellman, Pierotti, whose works are featured in more than 900 locations worldwide, developed a unique and serene artist’s studio. Since 2011, he’s transformed an old barn into his art space. He works on his pieces under the barn roof, on a large device that allows him to repeatedly roll his canvases out into the sun. It’s quiet with a serene view of a tall, waving grass field – the perfect place for his lengthy art process. 

Since its opening, the CARE Gallery has hosted about 28 shows. 

The River of Words exhibit will be on view until the end of May. The CARE Gallery is open for weekend viewing from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. Weekday viewings are available by appointment. Call (229) 679-5069 to schedule.