SOBO Art Gallery's Young Creatives Showcase to open Oct. 2

Victoria Pestrichello, a UCF student, covered her hand in red paint and went over to the collaborative artwork she and other members of the Young Creatives Showcase were working on at SOBO Art Gallery.

She took her hand and placed it on the face of the Dalmatian already painted on the canvas. Then she placed another handprint on the Dalmatian’s chest. 

It was her contribution to the collaborative work, which could look vastly different by the time it is presented at SOBO Art Gallery’s Young Creatives Showcase at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2 at the gallery. 

Courtesy photo

Pestrichello, along with Fritz-Lee Saint Paulin and Branton Urbieta, co-founded the Young Creatives Showcase, which gives high school and college students an opportunity to submit and showcase their artwork in a community gallery. 

For the first time, the showcase will take place in the front gallery at SOBO. 

SOBO Art Gallery Executive Director Anna Zucker said because high school students are able to participate in the showcase, people are able to see their growth as artists as they showcase their work throughout the years. 

This year’s show will feature a variety of media from photography to pencil to acrylic across various styles including abstract and realism. 

Express yourself

For Pestrichello and Saint Paulin, a student at Valencia College, art is a way to express themselves and their emotions. 

The collaborative piece has given artists at SOBO a chance to work together to create their own masterpiece reflecting their views and perspectives. The piece constantly has been changing as each of the four artists involved keep adding their own touches. 

As Pestrichello and Saint Paulin looked at the canvas, which featured a Dalmatian with “DADA” painted on it. The painting as it was Thursday, Sept. 18, was meant to represent dogs fighting. 

“I’m kind of hopeful to see how this piece will transform,” Saint Paulin said. “We see a Dalmatian now, but I don’t really know what it will be like in the next week or two.”

Saint Paulin said the artists involved are scared to step on one another’s toes in the creative process to be respectful, but he would like to see more conflict, because that is part of contributing to a collaborative piece. 

“I want people to be more assertive in themselves and command their space,” he said. “Then eventually, it just turns out into something crazy.”

Pestrichello said the collaborative work will be “one big story coming together, if not multiple stories being told at once.”

On top of contributing to the collaborative piece, Pestrichello also submitted her own work to the showcase. Her piece, “Conosci il nemico? Do you know your enemy?” is an abstract work. Pestrichello said she took inspiration from the negative news she was hearing on the television as she started creating her piece. 

“I smeared some paint on the canvas,” she said. “When I create something, I don’t go in with a specific thing in mind. I start laying things down, and I see where it takes me.”

Photo by Liz Ramos

SOBO: A second home

Growing up in Orlando, Saint Paulin said there isn’t a “true community” when it comes to art for children and young adults, so being able to provide an art community through the Young Creatives Showcase is crucial. 

“To get the privilege to do something here and realizing that it’s not just about our legacy but it’s the fact that we can create a space for people to come, and not only that, but we’re actually looking for them,” he said. “We’re very much eager to say, ‘Hey, please come here, and we can help you.’”

Pestrichello, who has been volunteering at SOBO since she was a high school student, found her own community at the art gallery. She feels comfortable to go to the gallery not just to work and volunteer but hang out and spend time with gallery volunteers and employees. 

“The community we have here is one of the best feelings in the world,” Pestrichello said. 

Students also have an opportunity to showcase their work in a professional community gallery rather than their school art shows. 

There also is a tangible recognition that comes with having their work in a gallery, Saint Paulin said. 

“With the rise of the Internet in general, it’s evolved into you can make a living just based on putting your work online and things like that,” he said. “In school, you’re going to be around people your age, maybe teachers and others. They might bring their extended relatives here and there. But to have it in an open gallery like this, it gives your work eligibility. You can say I can thrive online, but I can also thrive in a gallery space, in a formal setting.”

Showcase participants can have a sense of pride that their work is standing in a gallery. Not only that, but their work could be sold.

“It adds legitimacy and reputability to your name,” Pestrichello said. 

Seeing how her high school art teacher had to pay for art supplies out of pocket, Pestrichello said she realized the importance and has a deep appreciation for giving artistic opportunities to young people. 

“Being able to give younger students a space to create and kind of extending our love to be a second home as this place is to me and to be a safe space for people to come and express themselves is incredible,” she said. “It’s like young blood coming in and showing how they see the world.”

Courtesy photo