As featured in the Milton Standard-Journal

MILTON — The celebrated CSIU Student Art Gallery made its return Wednesday to the hallways of CSIU headquarters.

Dr. John Kurelja, CSIU executive director, said art teachers selected a piece for consideration for the gallery. The works are matted and framed for the best presentation possible.

Students get $300 for the piece with the option to buy it back for the same amount.

Fifteen students from 10 districts have work on display, including Reagyn Rothermel, an eighth grader from Miffliburg.

Painted clouds were daubed onto the canvas board using paper towels.

Her watercolor on a canvas board, “Beach Scene,” morphed from one image to another as it developed.

“I had something else in mind but an accident happened,”

Rothermel said. “I just had to quickly change my mind. I liked going to a beach with my great-grammy, so I just decided to do a beach.”

Anton Permyashkin, a Lewisburg Area High School graduate, had work selected in 2020 but it could not be displayed at a reception due to the pandemic. He is now a Shippensburg University sophomore.

“Catch and Release” was based on a photo of a fish, fishing gear and the shoes of a fly fishing enthusiast. It is from an underwater point of view and contains reflections typical of sunlit fresh water.

“It was my first time working with charcoal on paper,” he said. “It took about 12 hours to do one corner, just learning how to blend. I had no idea what I was doing, but when everything started to piece together, I saw how the reflection worked into it.” Lillyann Tilman, a Milton Area High School junior, said

“Fruity Bug,” reflects her interest in insects. The acrylic on paper image used nearly every color imaginable while remaining “entomologically correct.” Tilman noted her love for bugs and sciences. Chloe Yost, a Warrior Run High School senior, said

“Puzzling” was part of an Advanced Placement art portfolio theme of mental illnesses from a first-person perspective.

It depicts a dark figure surrounded by puzzle pieces, each labeled with a particular disorder or difficulty.

“We all know that certain students in high school get a lot of attention for athletics and things like that,” Kurelja said. “We love the fact we can celebrate creativity and the arts by doing this.”

The 2022 gallery is the third time that the CSIU has assembled student work with such honors.

For the first time since 2019, the CSIU hosted a reception for young public school artists.

Students with work submitted for display at the unit’s headquarters included Lilyanna Strocko, Danielle Barnes, Matthew Carroll (Selinsgrove), Rayne Beshline (Central Columbia), Liam Birrane (Bloomsburg), Chloe Yost, Nathan McCormack (Warrior Run), Anna Shaffer, Johna Rebuck, Sydney Nichols (Line Mountain), Mia Peifer (Shikellamy), Anton Permyashkin (Lewisburg), Kayla Ringer (Millville), Reagyn Rothermel (Mifflinburg) and Lillyann Tilman (Milton). Not all students are shown.

Article and photos by Matt Farrand, Staff Writer at the Milton Standard-Journal