17 Mar April Showcase Exhibit: Art by Two
The mother-son duo of Charity Counts and Maxwell Hopkins will dress the walls of the Stephenson House in April.
Charity Counts and Maxwell Hopkins are sharing the spotlight as our April Showcase Artists. Counts is the associate vice president of exhibits at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, and Hopkins, age 5, is in junior kindergarten at St. Louis de Montfort in Fishers. The mother and son duo have been collaborating on art projects for most of Max’s young life.
“I think he’s been making art since he could lift a pencil,” Counts says. “But only in the last year, I would say, has he started to call it ‘art’ or refer to himself as an ‘artist.’ I think he’s simply curious and observant … an essential set of qualities for an artist in my opinion.”
At the Children’s Museum, Counts leads cross-departmental teams that work on exhibits, including Take Me There: China, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs. She loves working in teams at the museum and making art with her son at home. Their joint exhibit, Art by Two, will be in the Stephenson House April 1-30 and includes several paintings they painted together.
“Max and I had so much fun working on art together but we also had to problem solve together and ran into creative differences, just like any other team. So it was a great learning experience for us.”
As an artist, Counts appreciates what organizations like Noblesville Creates bring to communities. She believes it’s good for the soul and feels lucky that there is a place in town where she can display her art and her son’s.
“I mostly want to have a show so that he knows I take what we’ve been making seriously. It’s valuable to me. Now, he tells everyone that we are artists and we are a team. It’s so fun!”
The “Art by Two” show runs April 1-29. See their works in the Stephenson House during regular business hours. Meet the artists at a reception on April 16 from 2-5 p.m.
