RIT’s Bevier Gallery Hosts Middle and High School Exhibition

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Casey Stappenbeck

Self portrait

Casey Stappenbeck’s self portrait pays homage to her pet, Sakima, a Malamute-Siberian husky who ran away a few months ago.

“The trees of her backyard are in the portrait, where she always took Sakima out to play,” says Jane Betrus, Casey’s art teacher at Churchville-Chili High School. “Knowing this makes the look in her eyes all the more haunting and poignant. She so capably expressed her mood with this layered image that she immediately locks the viewer in. And Casey is only in the ninth grade; just think of what lies ahead for her down the road.”

Casey is one of 340 middle and high school art students—from Webster Schroeder to Rush-Henrietta to Wayland-Cohocton—who will be participating in the Rochester Finger Lakes Regional Exhibition. An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan. 29, at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Bevier Gallery. The show runs through Feb. 24.

“We are very excited to have this exhibition on display at RIT,” says Deb Kingsbury, assistant dean in RIT’s College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, which is hosting the event. “It’s one of the highlights of our year, and if you come to Bevier Gallery to visit, you will see why. The work is amazing.”

Bevier Gallery is handicapped-accessible and is located in the James E. Booth Building on RIT’s Henrietta campus. Regular gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday; 7 to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 1 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday; and 2 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. All exhibits are free. For more information, call the Bevier Gallery at 585-475-2646.