High school teachers organize showcase

Surrounded by students' work in the administrative office at The Lofts at Beacon, a funky historic building bathed in natural light, Beacon High School art teachers Mark Lyon and Claudine Farley beamed with pride.

The showcase, which closes May 30, features pottery and visual images. Friendship is a recurring theme.

Opposite the entrance hang three striking paintings by Luna Ayers-Uekawa, Elena Moleano and Willa Staempfli with bright colors and fantastical beasts.

"I gave them the freedom to go on a rollercoaster ride," says Lyon. "No bullseyes, and it had to be an original work that does not copy a picture."

Several students won Scholastic Art Awards, and Carlos Lampon received a full scholarship to the Rhode Island School of Design. His painting, "Explore Friendship," is a complicated construct: the heads of eight young people rotate around the frame as if everyone is lying in a circle; one cozies up to a glowing orb that resembles the moon.

Alina Joseph

Caleb Ramirez

Carlos Lampon

Elena Moleano

Luna Ayers-Uekawa

Mira Miller

Nicholas Perry

Nora Marshall

Pen Lipari

Prince Jones

Samantha Garcia

Shannon Colandrea

Suvi Oshea

Taylor Kelliher

Willa Staempfli

Zenis Haris

Lampon renders complex features such as hair, hands and rumpled shirts with skill. In another acrylic, a lady in red lounges on a porch. The long shadow cast by a post crosses her body and pierces the frame.

Mira Miller's untitled painting portrays her and some pals working on an Eagle Scout woodworking project. Amidst the chaotic scene, a self-portrait appears in a corner, with Miller holding tools and donning safety googles.

A fun-filled painting by Taylor Kelliher features soft lighting and a dog, while her arresting final project from this year shows a girl in a colorful costume strutting her stuff while reflected in a mirror from behind. "Her brush strokes are more confident," says Lyon. "She's come a long way."

Some of Farley's pottery students replicated yellow rubber ducks to reflect their personalities. One young artist who values sleep topped the work with an old-fashioned nightcap.

More advanced students created personalized paper bags from clay, including "What's Next," which features a sad face. "It laments the situation of seniors, whose world is breaking up as they move on from high school," says Farley.

A charcoal drawing by Alina Joseph demonstrates a sophisticated balance between shade and light. Prince Jones created photos with movement; "Heart Eyes" is the result of waving lights around a dark stage. The background and the subject wearing pink glasses are multiplied, manipulated and over-exposed.

Caleb Ramirez shot photos at Long Dock Park, Shannon Colandrea shares an image taken in Iceland, and Samantha Garcia zoomed in for a close-up of her dog's nose.

A digital artwork by Zenia Haris captivates in part because it's disorienting and challenging — even after digesting it for an extended period.

Using an iPad and the program ibisPaint, he wielded a stylus to draw in the digital realm, creating deep shades of blue and purple, as well as bright reds and oranges. His cut-paper collage "Losing Touch" is an allegory about how he's "jealous of my younger self; it was much easier to make friends."

No matter what path he takes at SUNY Albany, Haris says he will keep creating. "I've been doing art projects since I was a little kid," he says. "There are always ideas floating around my brain."

The Lofts at Beacon Gallery, at 18 Front St., is open Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed for lunch 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.) and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.