Moreshead’s ‘Orangutan’ may be chosen for Augusta art exhibit

Staff report

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — SeDoMoCha Middle School eighth-grader Gavyn Moreshead’s graphite drawing “Orangutan” has been nominated for an art exhibit recognizing some of the top student artists from across the state of Maine.

Photo courtesy of SeDoMoCha Middle School art teacher Bobbi Tardif

    GRAPHITE “ORANGUTAN” — SeDoMoCha Middle School eighth-grader Gavyn Moreshead’s graphite drawing “Orangutan” has been nominated for the 2015 Spring Maine Youth Excellence in Art Exhibition. The exhibit recognizes some of the top student artwork from across Maine, with five pieces selected from nine regions across Maine. Moreshead’s “Orangutan” was nominated by SeDoMoCha Middle School art teacher Bobbi Tardif.

    SeDoMoCha Middle School art teacher Bobbi Tardif explained that last month she received an invitation from the Maine Arts Commission to join in celebrating student art with the 2015 Spring Maine Youth Excellence in Art Exhibition, a program Maine’s First Lady Ann LePage is involved with. Art teachers from across the state were invited to submit one piece of two-dimensional student work representing artistic excellence.
    Submissions, spanning grades K-12, come from nine superintendent’s regions, but only five from each area (for 45 total) will be chosen to hang in either the Blaine House, the Cross Office Building, the Maine Arts Commission and the Statehouse for four months.
    “I chose Gavyn Moreshead in eighth grade to represent SeDoMoCha Middle School because of his artistic talent, internal motivation and drive to create,” Tardif said. “Gavyn has shown tremendous growth from just the short time I have been here and a willingness to try new things. Gavyn’s graphite drawing of an orangutan has been submitted along with his artist statement that reads, ‘My father and his artwork inspires me to create. He is gone now, but I believe he would be proud of me and the artist I have become.’”
    “This emotional connection and personal drive to create art is what moved me to choose him to represent our school,” Tardif said. “The hardest part for me is, because of the talent, choosing just one,” she added about selecting the submission to represent the middle school.
    Tardif said if Moreshead’s “Orangutan” is selected for the Spring Maine Youth Excellence in Art Exhibition then he and his family and herself will be invited to the show’s opening reception by First Lady LePage and be recognized for his artistic achievements.