Nightmare on Main Street, 2025

Nightmare on Main Street is the Huntington Arts Councils annual exhibit for student artists in grades 6-12. Students from any school district were welcome to submit work. This year our juror is Isabella Fernanda. Students were encouraged to use her works and the following statement to inspire their own works. 

“Do scary stories give you a fright? Or do they wickedly bite your toes in plain sight…?

In a scary story, fear is like a shapeshifter. It can disguise itself in the forms of nightmares, themes of death, or mysteries of the unknown. Feasting on our horrors, the narrative of our fears have ghoulishly shaped the scary stories we tell in the dark… Throughout history, mortals have used storytelling to craft haunting imagery. Frightening 18th century viewers, The Nightmare painting by Henry Fuseli, portrays a woman sleeping while a creature sits on top of her vulnerable soul. An eerily painted story that reflects the realm of nightmares. Another artist, such as Frida Kahlo, has used painted symbolism to evoke themes of death, and express the macabre stories of her own life. Similarly, in classic horror novels such as Frankenstein by Mary Shelly and Dracula by Bram Stoker, the stories of these monsters explore the supernatural and fears of the unknown. Chilling stories conjured by our fears, yet the monsters echo the shadows that dwell within us…

When fear invades our brains with ethereal whispers and hellish wails, those melodies reveal the deepest parts of the self. To release the dissonance, we must learn to dance along with the tune.

What’s your scary story? Using the medium of your choice, create an artwork that portrays a scary story. Use narrative art to vividly bring your scary story to life. Be honest, be expressive, even be playful. Think of symbolism, composition, and always remember the art of a good scare… 

Let your fears roam free, in plain sight for all to see!”