MHS Artists in County Exhibit

Allison Quirk was surprised when she found out her collage Four Monks won an award at the Burlington County Teen Arts Festival.

“I couldn't believe they picked my collage to be honest,” said Quirk of the Burlington County College Award Scholarship Award. “I've never won any kind of award so this is the first time anything like this has happened.”

The Moorestown High School senior will have her work displayed at the Teen Arts Art Exhibit at the Smithville Mansion Annex Gallery in Eastampton. A reception will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. April 6 to honor the teen artists. The exhibit will be on display from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays through April 27.

In addition to Quirk, Jacob Semple, Steve Laramie, Brandon Lindenman, Ernesto Padilla, Matthew Tucker and David Galin will have their work displayed at the exhibit.

Quirk’s inspiration for her winning piece came from an assignment in her Honors Studio Art class. Students were to take a masterpiece and make it their own. Quirk’s was based on Danny McBride's The Red Hat.

“In my piece are four hidden monk heads. I changed the background of the original picture and included lemons on the restaurant table because lemons are my favorite fruit,” said Quirk. “Lastly, I made one of her eyes unusually lower.”

To make her collage she used magazine clippings, colored paper, paper she had painted and balsa wood for the woman’s nose.

“I usually change my idea so that by the time I’m done it will be totally different from my original idea,” Quirk said. “However, from the minute the collage assignment was given out until the minute I finished gluing my last clipping of paper, my design stayed exactly the same. That’s how confident I was with this piece—my first artwork I am 100 percent proud of.”

Quirk will be studying fashion design and graphic design at the Columbus College of Art & Design in the fall.

“Allison Quirk is the kind of success story every teacher dreams of,” said Toni Paparone, an art teacher at the high school. “She has risen well above many of my other students concerning her work ethic and creativity.”

Semple, also a senior, had his graphic design piece selected. Semple’s assignment was to take a photo and render in the style of Peter Max. When he got the assignment, he knew he had the perfect picture: A picture of boots at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“I liked the way the boots were placed,” said Semple. “It was very patriotic and very nostalgic.”

Semple, who has been taking art for three years, decided to give graphic design a try this year.

“I like that it’s on the computer,” he said. “I’ve always done painting. I wanted to see how graphic design was different.”

“He’s an awesome student,” said Paparone. “Although he has never considered himself to be an artist he has managed to get through three years of my classes always earning an ‘A’ because of his work ethic and ability to grasp information and run with it.

“It makes me extremely happy that he was the one to win the honor of his graphic design piece going onto the Smithville Mansion Annex Gallery.”