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100 pieces of student art in new Port Coquitlam show

Student art from Riverside secondary and CABE will be in an online display for Imaginings III, a city of Port Coquitlam exhibit with SD43.
Janis Cleugh

Theodora Sababei is about to have a life-changing year.

Next month, the Grade 12 student graduates from Riverside secondary in Port Coquitlam with plans to attend Simon Fraser University in the fall to study French and education.

But before the Coquitlam resident buckles down for the next four years, she’ll be one of dozens of high school students who will see their artwork displayed in a public virtual gallery.

Thursday, the city of PoCo will launch its third iteration of Imaginings, a showcase featuring more than 100 pieces from the best art students at Riverside and CABE (Terry Fox secondary was unable to take part this year).

Sababei, 17, has three works in the display: Synthia, a sculpture; Zero, a tissue paper lantern; and a painting called The Magician.

“It means a lot to me to have people look at my art,” she said Monday at the Gathering Place in Leigh Square, where Imaginings is typically held in a non-pandemic year.

Sababei, who trains at Riverside under Jacquelyn Collins and Cam Drysdale and has taken city art classes at Leigh Square, said she looks forward to seeing the other entries in the virtual exhibit, which runs until June 25.

Among the mediums submitted are painting, video, animation, photography, drawing and sculpture, said Robi Smith, PoCo’s arts and culture co-ordinator.

To attend the opening reception for Imaginings III, email [email protected] for a Zoom invite. For more details about the online show, go to portcoquitlam.ca/exhibitions.

Meanwhile, Riverside’s Anella Schabler is the winner of a scholarship presented by the Art Focus Artists Association, a PoCo arts group that meets in Leigh Square.

A student at Place des Arts, Schabler launched at fundraising campaign for her Grade 12 Capstone project, selling a large collection of her own artwork — through the Coquitlam arts hub — to generate cash for charity.

Schabler received early acceptance to the University of Toronto to study fine arts and, in her third year, she plans to enrol at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, in Paris, France, for an exchange study program.