From November 10 to December 16, Summit Art Gallery in downtown Weirton hosts the Dreams and Nightmares themed art show. This event involves student artists from Weir, Oak Glen, Madonna, and Brooke.

An estimated 150 people attended the opening night, while over 60 students participated. Some students sold their art, while others decided to keep it.

Weir art teacher, Laura Johnston, assigned every student an art project that fit the theme of Dreams and Nightmares. Then, the students got to decide if they wanted to display their art in the show.

Rylie Baker won first place with her piece “Drift Away.” Baker submitted two drawings. The first is a black and white picture of a woman as she is slowly disappearing. This piece was made strictly with pencil and won first place in the show. Baker’s second piece was a watercolor galaxy. This piece is for sale, but “Drift Away” is not.

Baker said that her favorite part of this experience was having all her friends and family there to support her. She described the night by saying, “When they announced my name, I was just overcome with joy, and getting to put the ribbon on my piece was the cherry on top, it just made an already amazing night with family and friends even better. I was so beyond thankful that I even got the opportunity to be a part of it and that so many people submitted works this year.”

Katelyn Bowders got awarded second place for “Sweet Nightmares.” This piece shows a little girl’s bedroom. The girl is sleeping peacefully, but there are monsters surrounding her. Bowders took inspiration from the idea of monsters under the bed. She did place her piece for sale but is not sure if it has sold.

The best part of this show for Bowders was getting to see other young artists in the area and what they created for the show. On the topic of winning second place, Bowders explained, “Winning second place felt rewarding. I was extremely happy to get some of my talent recognized.”

Kayla Mazon ended with third place. She drew a colorful dreamcatcher, with some of the panels containing nightmarish scenes. She used watercolor, acrylic, and gouache. Mazon left her work untitled and decided not to put it for sale.

Mazon explained that the best part of this process was creating the art and combining her inspirations. She felt winning third place was rewarding because many young artists deserve recognition.

Naomi Young displayed her watercolor and charcoal art. Young said, “I didn’t want it to be something that was gory and scary, but I also didn’t want it to be a basic dream that was all butterflies and rainbows. I just wanted people to look at it and be like ‘Oh, that’s kinda weird.’”

Young’s piece depicts a room with a window. She used a dark teal watercolor to make the room, and then shaded it with charcoal. Her piece was not for sale because she wanted to keep it.

When asked her favorite part of the experience, Young said, “I think the best part of this experience was being able to work through the process of figuring out what I was making and seeing it come to life on paper.” Young also received an honorable mention.

The art show is still open for visitors until December 16^th at the Summit Art Gallery in downtown Weirton. The gallery is open from 10:00am-6pm on weekdays, except Wednesday, which is open 8:30am-4:00pm.