Leavitt students get inside look at library’s art studio

There were more than the usual handful of residents awaiting the opening of the Sahara West Library on March 17.

Seventh- and eighth-graders from Leavitt Middle School, 4701 Quadrel St., were bussed to the location to view art from Eyob Mergia’s exhibit “The Philosophy of Form and Color” as well as photography by Marcella Brendible, a member of the Tsimshian Nation in Alaska. Her exhibit, “Experience Nature in a Different Light,” is on display through May 31, while Mergia’s ended April 2.

Darren Johnson, gallery services coordinator at Sahara West’s art gallery, The Studio, 9600 W. Sahara Ave., reached out to the school to suggest the tour. Leavitt art teacher Dawn Dodsworth then arranged for 52 students from her intermediate and advanced classes to go.

Johnson also created a scavenger hunt to better engage the students.

“I didn’t want to go from picture to picture with that many kids, talking about each one, so I made up a scavenger hunt,” he said.

After Johnson welcomed the students and told them about his job and how he chose the exhibits, he passed out the scavenger hunt — 10 questions on two pages — and let the students go searching. One question showed a photo of the Washington Monument next to a photo of the 1,700-year-old Obelisk of Axum in Ethiopia, where Mergia grew up.

“Mergia uses color and value to contrast a dark silhouette of the Obelisk of Axum down the center of his 20-panel painting ‘Wisdom of Axum’,” the clue read. “The obelisk appears in some of Mergia’s other paintings as well. Write the titles of two other paintings that feature obelisks.”

There were more than 70 paintings, so the task could be time-consuming.

Not all of Mergia’s work was included in the scavenger hunt.

“Why is that one covered up?” asked a student, pointing to the dark drape over one of the paintings.

“It’s a very nice piece, but it’s not appropriate for your age,” Dodsworth said. (It was a nude.)

Mergia said he liked having young, up-and-coming artists at his exhibit.

“Art is important for many aspects of your life,” he told the students. “You’ve got to be creative to (achieve) anything.”

Some of the students planned to return. Dodsworth had made plans to bring the advanced group back to the library after spring break to work on an art project on landscapes in the library’s grotto.

“It’ll (complement) the lady next door so the kids can refer to her (Brendible’s) work,” she said.

Visit lvccld.org or call 702-507-3630.

To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.