Albany Area Arts Council opens children’s art exhibit

ALBANY — Albany area students are helping make the holiday a little more festive and colorful now that the Dougherty County Elementary School Art Show has opened at the Albany Area Arts Council’s Carnegie Library headquarters.

The exhibition, which features works of art made by students from Dougherty County’s Jackson Heights, Lincoln Elementary Magnet, International Studies, Sherwood Acres, Lake Park, Lamar Reese, Turner, Martin Luther King, Morningside, Northside, West Town, Alice Coachman and Live Oak elementary schools, opened with an informal gallery opening Thursday night, allowing students and their parents to enjoy the talent on display.

For the exhibition, each school was allowed to present 10 hanging works and one three dimensional work, in a variety of media, and every student whose art was chosen for presentation was given an award for artistic achievement.

“They’re very proud,” said Svetlana Reed, an art teacher at International Studies. “They take pride in their work, and they feel very special if their work gets selected.”

Reed said her method of selecting works for the art show involves letting the students decide which pieces spoke to them. Reed said all of her art students were given a chance to create something, and she displayed those works in her room.

Students then had a chance to indicate which works they liked best. Once the pool of selections was narrowed, Reed chose the final works to be placed in the exhibition.

“It is hard (to decide),” Reed said. “The students help narrow it down. I want the students’ input.”

Regardless of how the works are chosen, Albany Area Arts Council Executive Director Nicole Williams said she is always impressed with the pieces that are shown during the exhibition.

“There’s some really good stuff,” Williams said. “I’m always amazed by the talent of these kids. Some of the pieces, I can’t believe they were done by elementary school students.”

Williams said the reaction from the public when they see the exhibition is usually the same, which goes to the heart of why the Arts Council hosts the exhibition every year.

“The Arts Council’s mission is to promote arts in Albany and Southwest Georgia and the talent that exists in this area,” she said. “What better way to do that than to give students a place to show their work and gain confidence to continue creating? It means a lot to the kids, and their parents and peers, to see the artwork displayed in a professional setting. And who knows, something like this might be the thing that gets a student to continue learning about and creating art as they get older?

“This really is one of my favorite shows of the year.”

The elementary school art will remain on display for the entire month of December, until Jan. 26. The public can enjoy the exhibition for free during the Arts Council’s regular business hours of Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Tuesday 2-4 p.m.

Williams added that another good time for art lovers, especially children, to visit the Carnegie Library and see the exhibition will be during the Arts Council’s annual Holiday pARTy, which it hosts in conjunction with the Albany Recreation and Parks Department.

The Holiday pARTy, now in its third year, will be held Dec. 12 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is open to children of all ages.

“We are expecting a wonderful event for our third annual Holiday pARTy because of the popularity and success the program has cultivated in the past two years,” said Williams. “Last year’s event was truly magical for the children who attended. It is such a special time of year, and we are grateful to have the venue and necessary resources to reach out to the community in this way.”

To learn more about the student art show, the Holiday pARTy and other Albany Area Arts Council activities, visit www.albanyartscouncil.org or visit the Albany Area Arts Council page on Facebook.