12/5/96

CONTACT: Sally Delgado, Ohio University, 614/593-1304

ATHENS, Ohio -- "Fresh Perspectives: Young People's Art from Southeastern Ohio" will open to the public Saturday (Dec. 7) at the Kennedy Museum of American Art on the Ohio University Athens campus.

The exhibit features artwork in a variety of media -- including painting, sculpture, printmaking and photography -- by students of kindergarten through high school age from approximately 20 schools in Athens and surrounding areas.

The Kennedy Museum staff invited all schools that have participated in the museum's outreach programming during the past two years and as many additional surrounding schools as possible to participate in the exhibition. Area art teachers were asked to select and contribute a few pieces by students to represent their schools.

Also included is a collaborative sculpture created in the summer of 1995 during a Kennedy Museum Sculpture Workshop with the Athens Middle School advanced art class.

"Fresh Perspectives" will run from Dec. 7 to Feb. 21, 1997. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. On Dec. 7, the museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a public reception for the exhibition from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Museum admission is free.

Also on exhibit are "Selections from the Martha and Foster Harmon Collection" and "New Voices, New Visions," both through Dec. 27, and the ongoing exhibit, "A Century of Weaving."

In addition, the Friends of the Kennedy Museum will host a contemporary Native American jewelry display and sale during regular museum hours through Saturday.

The museum will be closed Dec. 23-25 and Dec. 30-Jan. 1; galleries will be open Dec. 26-27.