Medical Lake seniors showcase artwork

On a quiet, residential street in the little town of Medical Lake is an art gallery. It was the scene of a real live art exhibit this past Saturday afternoon. The gallery belongs to Dennis Smith, a local ceramic artist who kindly offered his studio to Madilyn Lewan, the friendly and outgoing organizer of the exhibit. Lewan, along with two senior classmates at Medical Lake High School, chose to make their senior final project a showcase of their work.

Lewan made it happen, with Dennis' assistance. He explained, "There is no art program at the high school, and I wanted to help out."

Lewan has wanted to be an artist since she was a 16-year-old and has been studying fine arts and art history. She explains, "My father and my grandfather on my mother's side have both been interested in art. I think that I have found my love for art from them."

At the exhibit, she displayed examples of her different art styles. "My media of choice are usually pen and ink, graphite pencil and acrylic paint, among others. Aside from art, I am also interested in music. I play the flute, guitar and piano."

Along with Madilyn, Dominic Shaima and Mikayla McCoy also exhibited their work. Shaima's specialty is photography, both color and black and white. His thoughtfulness and sensitivity are clearly evident in his work.

"I want to tell multiple stories in my photographs," Shaima said. "I try to use the subjects, the color and the environment to express the emotion of those stories."

His self-assuredness and sense of style also extend to his appearance, from his crisp haircut to his beautiful Italian leather shoes. "I was born in Italy and lived there until I was 15 years old," Shaima said. "I was raised and went to school on the American army bases in Italy." His mother has family there and taught him the language, so he speaks both English and Italian fluently.

McCoy is the third artist who was featured at the exhibit. She is a beautiful, winsome young lady, who was proud to show us her work in acrylic paint and in pencil and ink drawings. She hopes to utilize her talents to become a tattoo artist.

"It's a very hard field to get into, actually," McCoy said. "Most people want the title, but I am interested in the artistic side of it."

In the meantime, she generously volunteers her time helping out at Lakeland Village and plans to attend community college after graduating high school.

Shaima's plans after graduating are to enlist in the Air Force and become a staff photographer. His inspiration is the famous photo "Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima" by Joe Rosenthal. "I want to travel all over the world and take photographs just like that," he said.

Lewan's next step is to attend Eastern Washington University where, "I have taken honors and advanced placements classes in school and have excelled in school. I received the Dean's Scholarship at Eastern for $2,000."

She admits that, "all through school, however, I have doodled and drawn on my assignments and in my notebooks while still listening in class."

She is looking forward to a life where she can utilize her talents. "In the future, I would like to either move to California or New York to pursue my career as an independent, self-sufficient artist. I would like to make a living off of selling and showing my work."

All three of these amazing young people will undoubtedly go far in their pursuits and we certainly wish them well.

Luella Dow is a Cheney-area author. She can be reached at [email protected].