Capital City Arts Initiative

Exhibition Dates: December 14, 2023 – March 21, 2024
Exhibition Venue: Community Development Building (the Brick)
108 E Proctor Street, Carson City, Nevada

Photo Finished 2024
Exhibition in CCAI’s Student Gallery

Thirteen of Carson High School’s accomplished photography students have their work in Photo Finished 2024 at the Brick.

Photo Finished 2024, a Capital City Arts Initiative (CCAI) exhibition, is in the Community Development Building (the Brick), 108 E Proctor Street, Carson City, December 14, 2022 – March 21, 2024. The Brick is open to the public, M-F, 8am – noon, 1-4pm. Watch the exhibition video tour at https://youtu.be/qFec0m3S1ZY?si=HKsFCFo3Fe4fQue4

Participating students include: Jose Avina, Kylie Carrigan, Tyler Currier, Ella Dooley, Ethan Hendee, Keira Jacobsen, Zach Laaker, Eli Locatelli, Jamie McGee, Alex Nerska, Lorrell Service, Angel Vega, and Emily Walker-Candia.

Jose Avina focused his work on portraits. Kylie Carrigan tells a personal saga through her images. Tyler Currier presents a Street Life series. Ella Dooley used backlighting to silhouette her minimalist black and white images of animals. Ethan Hendee aimed his camera at various landscapes. Keira Jacobsen‘s series of close-up portraits asks viewers to see Me Through Your Eyes. Zach Laaker comments on Abandonment with his series. Eli Locatelli used photography effects in his images of abstract symbols. Jamie McGee portrays various states of Anxiety. Alex Nereka photographed local rodeo events. Lorrell Service created images of discarded objects.  Angel Vega created black and white compositions of used cigarettes. Emily Walker-Candia celebrated school pride in her photos.

The Scholastic Art Awards presented Angel Vega with a Gold Key Award for his compositions of used cigarettes. Kylie Carrigan, Keira Jacobsen, Zach Laaker, and Jamie McGee each received Silver Key Awards for their photography. Scholastics bases its choices on the artist’s originality, skill level, and emergency of a personal voice or vision and has been giving these awards nationally to creative teens in the visual arts and creative writing since 1923.

Photography teacher, Matt Theilen, explained the students’ assignment: “The Carson High School photography students are asked to create a 15-piece conceptual body of work in which all pieces must relate back to their central topic throughout the first semester. They are given few parameters, other than that work must be acceptable for a high school-aged audience, must be cohesive, and must be printed to 11×14 format. Students are asked to choose three to four of their 15 total pieces to enter the Photo Finished 2024 art show. The works are a collection from Advanced Photo II and Photo III students.”

Sharon Rosse, CCAI Executive Director, said “CCAI looks forward to this annual collaboration with Carson High and is delighted to present work by these talented students. Their professional work presents creative and diverse photographic achievements.”

This show is another in CCAI’s ongoing series of student exhibitions in the Brick.

The Capital City Arts Initiative is an artist-centered not-for-profit organization committed to community engagement in contemporary visual arts through exhibitions, arts education programs, illustrated talks, artist residencies, and online activities.

The Initiative is funded by the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, Nevada Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, John and Grace Nauman Foundation, Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, Kaplan Family Charitable Fund, Southwest Gas Corporation Foundation, Steele & Associates LLC, and CCAI sponsors and members.

image, top right: Angel Vega, untitled (cigarette series), black/white photographs, 2023; Gold Key Award
image, lower left: Keira Jacobsen, Me Through Your Eyes series, photographs, 2023; Silver Key Award
image: Photo Finished 2024 exhibition flier