May 16, 2022 -- Time and time again, the course of history has been changed by young people with the courage to address their community in solidarity. In 1903, children of coal miners marched from Philadelpha to New York in protest against child labor. In 1960, the young Greensboro Four staged sit-ins that roused students across the nation to join in the civil rights movement and refuse to accept segregation. In 2018, students in Florida began a mass movement against mass shootings by engaging the media with their rally cry #neveragain, marching and organizing with demands for legislative action against an epidemic of gun violence. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi expressed this truth in his statement: "The power of youth is the commonwealth of the entire world. . . . No segment in society can match the power, idealism, enthusiasm and courage of young people." Today, as current events stream digitally throughout the consciousness of our youth, Heights Arts offers an open platform for Cleveland Heights High School students to amplify their voices through art in its annual student show. This year's edition is titled “What a Time to Be Alive,” and it is accompanied by a spotlight exhibition featuring the work of senior intern Eryn Lawson and junior intern Josie Naypaur, organizers of the larger student exhibition.

Lawson and Naypaur described their thoughts about these exhibitions: “In an age where connection is king, the miracles of modern life shape a new generation unlike any other. As the children of extremes, extravagance and excess, a unique culture rises from these conditions to shape our collective experience. From social media’s unrelenting scrutiny, unpredictable global events and insatiable boredom, the specifics of our lives create our stories. And so we must ask: what defines us? As an era, as a community, as individuals? In collaboration with Cleveland Heights High, we seek to find some answers to this question through our exhibition, “What a Time to Be Alive!”  

 

The exhibitions open Friday, May 19 and will be on view through Sunday, June 12. For more information on Heights Arts community programs and events, including house concerts, gallery performances and outreach, visit www.heightsarts.org.

 

 

 

Artwork by Sara Schubert 

"This piece represents the pressure I feel is put on teenagers' shoulders to save the planet, and fix all the various deep rooted problems in the world. The trashcan is representative of the feeling that my generation is used as a human trash can for the problems the older generations created."