On Friday, March 30 Ulster County Community College will host a reception for the First Annual High School Design Showcase. The reception, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Inner Space Gallery located in Vanderlyn Hall on the school's Stone Ridge campus, will feature art produced by students of seven Ulster County high schools including Ellenville, Highland, Kingston, New Paltz, Rondout Valley, Saugerties and Wallkill.

Four Ellenville High School students will be among those honored in the juried exhibition: Chalen Ford, Andy Remy for their work "Prufrock", (a short film); Andy Remy for "5001" (a public service announcement); and Jonathan Force and Alivia Kolakowski for each designing posters that promoted the graphic design industry and profession.

The judges for the exhibition are Regina Monfort, photographer; and David Perry, book and magazine designer; and Wawarsing resident John Hazard, a cinematographer and documentary filmmaker.

The idea for the showcase was the work of UCCC's Advertising Design and Graphic Technology Design department head, Sean Nixon. Nixon explained that it was, "curiosity and concern" about what local high schools were doing with their design students that led him to explore how the community college could act as a partner and facilitator in their mission.

Nixon investigated local programs, gathered teachers from a number of schools one evening and saw that there was room for growth in creating a bridge from high school design classes to the program he helped to reshape during his past four years at UCCC.

"By the end of the night I knew we should have a showcase. High school students interested in design need portfolios. I wanted to see the kind of work that local high schools were producing and I felt that the public should see all of the different forms that 'design' can take," Nixon said.

Nixon prides himself on his program's "professional design model" which moves students in his classroom into a business setting where his students are given a "client" to whom they must "pitch" their design concepts. In this way, Nixon argues, the four-semester program stresses "employability" as well as artistic creativity.

The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, can be viewed from March 30 through April 20 during college hours, but will be closed April 3 and 6 for Passover and Easter.

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