This year’s Carmel Arts Council Visual Arts scholarship winners have been named and are on display at the Children’s Gallery in downtown Carmel, 40 W. Main St.
The artists, Sage Mehta and Chloe Sun, will be available for questions about their work on Meet the Artists Night from 5 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 11. Mehta’s and Sun’s work will continue to be on display after the Meet the Artists event. Gallery hours are 5 to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
Mehta, who was awarded a $2,000 scholarship, took art classes at Carmel High School for all four years and continued to work independently on her skills and style on her own.
“Throughout my art, I have a mixed purpose to create visual interest and communicate messages,” Mehta said. “Most of my ideas come from a very personal place where I represent intrinsic configurations that come to my mind and aim to render those concepts in a way that can display impact.”
Mehta will attend the University of Pennsylvania.
Sun, the $3,000 scholarship recipient, is a recent graduate of Carmel High School. She seeks to prioritize the stories of people of color in her work, as well as those in marginalized communities.
Sun was told as a baby, when presented with symbolic objects in Chinese tradition to foretell a child’s career, she “grabbed the paintbrush – the artist’s object.” She continued her art passions through school and as her artistic passions increased, she gained an interest in design and how art influences design. Her art is also her message.
“A paintbrush may have been were my inspiration began, but it has grown into much more – my existence as a Chinese-American female visionary of color is a form of protest, my work an extension of it,” Sun said.
Sun will attend Carnegie Mellon University.