Every spring, the Holland Area Arts Council presents Début, the High School Juried Visual Art Competition. By giving young people a significant experience in the arts we hope to instill in them both the joy and challenge art brings to our lives. Thirteen area high schools take part in this exciting exhibition including Black River, Careerline Tech, Coopersville, Fennville, Grand Haven, Grandville, Hamilton, Holland Christian, Holland, Jenison, Saugatuck, West Ottawa and Zeeland. Each art instructor may submit 15 works from their students. The Arts Council chooses a juror from the artistic community whose task is to choose the pieces for the exhibit. While this creates a tremendous amount of excitement around the show, it also injects the element of competition that exists in any juried exhibition.

This year’s juror is Patrician Hendricks Constantine. Patricia is a native Floridian. Growing up during the 1950’s in St. Petersburg she was exposed to the beginnings of tourism in the sunshine state. The circus, side shows and tourist attractions are a big part of her identity and her work. Patricia received her MFA from University of Cincinnati in 1991. She currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her husband painter Jay Constantine. They have two daughters, Antonia Teresa and Sofia Vittoria.

Monday, 5:30-8pm
Tuesday, 10am-8pm
Wednesday, 10am-5pm
Thursday, 10am-8pm
Friday, 10am-5pm
Saturday, 10am-3pm