For the month of June, the Sampson Art Council is hosting an art exhibition presented by the students of Sampson Community College and art teacher and local artist Josiah King.
The Ways of Seeing art exhibition opened with the artist reception Thursday, with the work of King and over 14 students — current and past — on display. The art exhibition will be available to view at the Victor R. Small House until Thursday, July 9.
“This is a show with former and present students as well as the Sampson Community College, which means a lot to me to be able to show both at the same time together,” King said ahead of the exhibition. “Kara Donatelli (Arts Council director) is a big supporter of the arts, and she had talked to me about having a show at some point to show my own work. Then, she brought up the idea of inviting students to show alongside me, which I thought was amazing. It’s definitely more involved, getting all the students together, making sure I can contact everybody, because not everybody is still in the area.”
The show was assisted through the Artist Support Grant, which was provided by the State Council, and the Arts Council of Fayetteville and Cumberland County. King revealed that a lot of the student pieces that were submitted were done outside of the classes that he taught.
“That tells me that they’re still making art and they’re doing it for themselves, which really excites me,” he recalled. “It makes me feel like I’m doing my job right, and it really is co0l to reconnect with a lot of them. Many of them I hadn’t seen in a year or so, which was really cool to see what they submitted, and to be able, through the Arts Council, to offer them an opportunity to show (their work) in a gallery, which is a very big deal. Especially if you’re starting out and you’ve never shown in a gallery, this is a very substantial thing. To be able to be a part of that is crazy.”
Whenever he’s teaching, King prefers to reach his students where they stand in their art journey.
“Whether they’ve been painting for years, or drawing for years, I try to approach them in that spot, see how I can help them improve with what sort of concepts that would be valuable to them,” he explained. “I also have students that come in that have never done anything. With either one of them, the thing I love the most, especially whenever I see a student that’s kind of struggling with something, or it’s hard for them to get a concept, I love it when that light bulb moment happens in the class. Every semester I have one or two students that they might be struggling in a certain area. Maybe it’s color, or it could be something as simple as how to hold a piece of charcoal. These little things that there is a moment where they catch it, they start to get it, and it becomes sort of like instinct in that moment. I really love those moments when they have a creative breakthrough or a breakthrough in the materials. That’s very rewarding for me. I’d say that’s like the highlight of my semester when that happens. ‘
The biggest thing that King stresses to his students in his 15-years of professional painting experience is to make art that helps build experience.
“If you’re going to grow artistically, what you need is experience,” King stressed. “I can offer some technique assistance; I can give you feedback, but you just making the art is going to be the thing that’s going to take you the farthest. If you’re passionate about it, and you’re making things, then you’re going to be able to do some good things. Making a lot of art, there’s a level of confidence that’s good to build in the beginning to say ‘I have this sort of skill set,’ and I can go from here … that helps us to continue to building on things.”
King also reminds his students that they’re the best promoters of their work.
“The people that love you and care about you, those are the people that are going to support your art, so tell them about it,” he added. “Sometimes they have a hard time doing that, but that is the thing that’s helped me. My friends and my family, those are a lot of the people that are paying attention.”
As for beginning struggles, King said it was hard to say.
“I think it’s hard to have a single answer, because maybe they’ve seen certain types of art and sometimes they just need to be exposed to a lot of different types,” the artist explained. “I think that even if you can get out and go to the North Carolina Museum of Art, where you can see some art in person. I think being exposed to some things is really positive. The county does a lot of good stuff, the community college, Arts Council, Artworks, there are a lot of different folks around here, a lot of different organizations, that are creating opportunities to be exposed to art. Our encyclopedia of what we think art is, well it is very limited a lot of times. (Also) just the confidence to just put a mark on a blank piece of paper or canvas is the toughest starting point sometimes. “
Two of King’s former students, Nathan Baker and Owen McKoy, also have art on display at the exhibition. They talked about how it felt to have their work involved in the gallery.
“I’m honored and also very humbled,” Baker said. He has a self portrait inside of the art show.
“I get to be a part of the community and have people get to see my artwork, while also getting to be part of a larger community of artists who want to display their art as well. It’s a very good experience just to be a part of that. I’m really glad that people are going to be able to see my art experience and (the opportunity) to show off my skills a little bit. I get to see how they react to it and it’s very encouraging,” he stressed.
McKoy felt similarly.
“I’m very excited. Mr. King is a very good artist. His work takes ordinary things and makes them mystical. It has a fantasy aspect while also incorporating the real life thing (that it is), he’s just a great artist. I think the perspective in his work is really good. A few of my peers when I did have classes (at the community college) are in the show too. Her name is Angel (Pryor), and she’s a really good artist. We had other classes together, and she would just be drawing all day. I appreciate her talents and it’s excited to be able to work with people and collaborate in this kind of way.”