Student Artist of the Month at Gallery 510

Gallery 510 Art & Framing will be featuring one student from a Central Illinois high school each month along with the professional featured artist at the gallery. Before the gallery artist begins to talk about their work at each First Friday Gallery Walk, we will introduce the “Student of the Month” and show their piece of artwork that will remain on display throughout the month.

“Jake Bolsen is a Junior at Cerro Gordo High School who has been involved in an art class since elementary school. He is a member of Cerro Gordo’s JH/HS Art Club and is involved in 4-H where he shows pigs from his family farm.

Jake has taken art classes at Cerro Gordo in Jr High and is now in Art 1 at the High School level.  Last year, as a freshman, he could not fit art into his schedule so he took an independent study art class with his art teacher Mrs. Thomas during study hall time.  He achieved a Best of Show and an Honorable Mention last year in the Arts in Education HS Spring Art Show, and this year received best of show in Millikin’s High School exhibit, and again for Gallery 510’s Masterworks High School show!

Jake enjoys working with the charcoal medium because of the contrast an artist can achieve and feels it is easier to control than other media.  He says he has always enjoyed drawing but during the pandemic he taught himself how to draw and shade.  His plans for the future are not quite certain but he is interested in becoming a teacher or a career in creative writing.”

See Jake’s artwork on display at Gallery 510 in April, then her work will be on display at the Children’s Museum of Illinois in May.