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May 20, 2019 • Achievements

Sioux City art students exhibited in University of South Dakota show

Bernadette Dumkrieger, a junior at North High School, works on a dog's head made of paper mache over a wire armature. Dumkrieger is one of numerous Sioux City art students exhibiting pieces as part of a group show at the University of South Dakota.
Bernadette Dumkrieger, a junior at North High School, works on a dog's head made of paper mache over a wire armature. Dumkrieger is one of numerous Sioux City art students exhibiting pieces as part of a group show at the University of South Dakota.

North High School 11th grader Bernadette Dumkrieger finds inspiration for her art in unusual places.

For instance, a cartoon of a turtleneck-wearing dog influenced her decision to recreate the fashionable Italian greyhound in paper mache. “I like using animals as models for art pieces because you can exaggerate their features much more than humans,” Dumkrieger explained while giving her hipster dog a last-minute, cosmetic touch-up.

Dumkrieger is one of the Sioux City Community School District middle and high school students with artwork on display at the University of South Dakota’s John A. Day Gallery in Vermillion.

According to Pat Toben, the school district’s arts and community engagement program coordinator, the gallery show, which will end on May 26, was the result of an all-school art show held May 3 at the Ho-Chunk Centre. “More than 1,000 students had their art displayed during our 2019 ArtWorks exhibit,” she explained. “A representative (from USD) asked if they could display approximately 75 pieces from the show and we said absolutely.”

Bernadette Dumkrieger, a junior at North High School, works on a dog's head made of paper mache over a wire armature. Dumkrieger is one of numerous Sioux City art students exhibiting pieces as part of a group show at the University of South Dakota.

Bernadette Dumkrieger, a junior at North High School, works on a dog’s head made of paper mache over a wire armature. Dumkrieger is one of numerous Sioux City art students exhibiting pieces as part of a group show at the University of South Dakota.

While she is pleased that one of her pieces is on display at the college, Dumkrieger acknowledged art is more of a hobby than anything else. “Art is a creative outlet for me,” she said. “It’s just something that I like doing.”

Dumkrieger would like to go to college and pursue an education either in forensics or in history. Her classmate, Jonathan Gutierrez, would like to, some day, study either science technology or culinary science.

“It’s really cool that my work is being seen in a college art gallery,” Gutierrez, a North 11th grader, said with a smile. “I’d like to go up to Vermillion to see it.”

Teacher Leah Brockway can’t help but smile when her students reveal their creative side through art.

“Art is where you can reveal a lot about yourself,” she said. “It can be very freeing.”

View the full article by Earl Horlyk on the Sioux City Journal.