2005 Annual Student Show - Indianapolis Art Center – Feb. 9, 2005 - 3 stars

Quality and talent seen in the youth entries of this annual show is super-impressive, a credit to the talented staff who understand how to harness their young students abilities. Christopher Eley, age 11, had two of his glass works selected including “Feather of Glass,” a beautiful clear vase with delicate dashes of subtle confetti colors. Becky Gunderman’s (age 16) painting “Liane,” a merit award winner, shows uninhibited color and great freedom in defining the figure seen at an unlikely overhead angle. Quality in the adult categories, on the other hand, is a little hit-and-miss. Terre Haute elementary school art teacher Anna Chalos-McAleese’s sculpture “Thetis” easily earned its best of show title. People were drawn to peer into it whether they knew what to make of it or not. To me, the name itself “Thetis” suggested an abstraction of the immortal daughter of Nereus. A popular art subject for centuries, the mood of Thetis’ desperation, hope and endurance translated here through the softness, the cushioning effect of the work. Also of note were Mark Sauerburger’s canary yellow, opaque glass vases and, in the underrepresented fabric/fibers category, Caryl Rae Hancock’s entertaining raincoat and rainbow dress, “Dancing the Rainbow.” Through March 6, 2005; 317-255-2426. - Mary Lee Pappas