A gallery owner and an anchor for KPCC are bidding over Katie MacDonald’s ’08 photograph. Richard Doran, who owns the Satsuma Gallery in North Hollywood where MacDonald’s photo is being exhibited as part of Artrageous, a show of high school students’ work, bought the photo, much to the dismay of Hettie Lynne Hurtes.

“It’s bright, it’s very California,” Hurtes said. “I can relate to it.”

Since it is a photograph, MacDonald can reproduce the image. Hurtes arranged to buy a copy.

“It’s exciting,” MacDonald said. “When I took it I was thinking about color.”

Artrageous opened with a reception on April 12 and showcases student artwork from Harvard-Westlake, Cleveland High School and Chatsworth High School and runs until May 3. In addition to MacDonald, Kiran Arora ’08, Molly Berman ’08, Alex Cohen ’08, Sam Farmer ’08, Kasey Kissick ’08, Joanna Korshak ’08, Sophia Levan ’08 and Rachel Tan ’08 had work exhibited.

“This gives [the students] a taste of what the art world is like,” Doran said. Doran said he contacted the teachers at the schools and asked them to send about 10 to 12 pieces. The students were then asked to price their works with help from their teachers, and Doran said he made himself available for consultation.

Berman was distressed to find her nude inked on a piece of found wood priced at $150. She had asked that it be priced at $1,500 so that it would be unlikely to sell.
She caught Doran and told him of the mistake.

Doran was thankful she alerted him and said  that many people had already expressed interest in it. Berman said she hoped to use it when applying to art schools. 
Art teacher Marianne Hall said that it is often hard for students in AP Studio Art to find pieces they do not need for their portfolio.

“I think it’s fun for them to be a part of a real gallery in NoHo, in a real art scene,” Hall said.

The best part for photography teacher Kevin O’Malley is the interaction with other high school students. Cohen approached O’Malley to point out that a girl from another school was taking a picture of his photograph.

“The best thing for them is that eventually Alex is going to go talk to that girl,” O’Malley said.