The Triangle Gallery, which began in September of 2000 as "The Café," has evolved over the years but its intent remains the same. Dan Hintz, the youth development director at the downtown YMCA at 909 Fourth Ave (where the gallery is located), has helped maintain the space as a legitimate gallery strictly for 13- to 20-year-old artists.
"The goal of the Triangle Gallery is to provide a professional space to highlight young and emerging artists," said Dan. "The gallery also advocates for a redefinition of the way the adult community views artistic contributions of young artists."
On March 29, opening night of the gallery's current show, Life, Unscripted: A Collective Photographic Journey (which runs until May 24), friends and family of the young photographers perused the room. Many commented on the fact that the impressive images were done by such young artists. Dan isn't surprised to hear that.
"I love to hear a visitor say, 'This was done by a teenager?' While the language is rather demeaning, this is the first step toward legitimizing the young people's voice and vision."
Patrick was delighted to see that people were enjoying his images. "I've seen these prints every single day, so to me they're nothing special," said Patrick. "But to see everyone else's reaction when they look at it--it's very cool. I'm really glad that I got this opportunity."
Janine felt the same way. "I'm really excited about this. I've worked really hard on the prints and I'm really excited that I get to share them with everyone else."
After looking at the images, it would be hard to say that these "kids" are not legitimate artists. Many of the visitors on opening night must've agreed: several prints were sold. MEGAN SELING
