Silver City, NM- Western New Mexico University hosted an art exhibition on Thursday, November 12th, which showcased Ella Sala Myers’ artwork and was free for the public to attend.
On May 24, 2014, a plane crashed three miles away from Silver City, New Mexico, killing four people that were aboard. Ella Kirk, age 14, Michael Mahl, age 16, and Ella Myers, age 16 were three Aldo Leopold Charter School students doing a report on the Gila National Forest and had taken a plane to view a recent fire that occurred in Silver City. Peter Hochla, the pilot of the plane, also passed away.
The event began at WNMU’s Parotti Hall, where Jennifer Douglass and Brian Myers, the parents of Ella, described why they wanted to show Ella’s work, saying that she was a very intelligent artist and should be remembered though her works.
She was described as a loving person, not to just humans, but to animals as well.
“We owned a farm and her best friend was her horse, Gracie and she loved her very much,” Jennifer said, while showing picture of Ella and Gracie together.
In a slideshow presentation, Brian and Jennifer showed drawings of Ella’s sister Raven, Gracie, and a chicken, all of which were drawn using graphite. Brian said that not only was she a great at drawing, but also an incredible filmmaker and poet, which they did not know until after her passing.
“She was private with her work and it wasn’t until after her death that we found out she had stacks of notebooks that were filled with stories,” Brian said. He said that she wrote two or three novels that were not completely done.
Ella began her art career at the age of two, and took on the art culture because of her mother and father, who are still today artists. Ella’s favorite hobby was film and she had been accepted to the Chicago Art Institute’s Summer Art Program for one of her films called ‘The Moments’.
After the slideshow, the event moved to the McCray Gallery, which allowed the audience to see work that Ella had created. There were around 16 poems shown and 9 “atmosphere photos,” or photos of an object that is in movement.
The attendees were impressed with her talent, but what captured their attention the most were her documentary films. Four total films, some unfinished, showed how creative Ella was as an artist. The two main films shown were called ‘The Moments’ and ‘The Wait’. Both showed a lot of scenes with Raven, who is also an artist and photographer.
“I was shown in much of the documentary because she and I were best friends and I was her only sibling,” Raven said.
Ella’s 18th birthday would have been this Monday. She is remembered fondly as being a kind-hearted, intelligent, and goofy young woman, with a love towards both animals and people. She will always be remembered both as a person and through her art.
The WNMU McCray Gallery will hold the exhibit showcasing Ella’s work up until January 7th. The exhibit will be free for the public.
