To celebrate student work in honor of Youth Art Month, the Concord School District hosts an annual art show compiling pieces made by students from kindergarten to twelfth-grade across the district. This year’s show opened on Thursday, Feb. 20 and will run through Wednesday, April 2 at the City Wide Community Center.

From drawing and painting to printmaking and 3-D installations, the exhibit aims to illustrate the wide array of creative work happening at each of the Concord schools. The show tries to display artwork from as many students as possible, according to Abbot-Downing Elementary School art teacher Nathan Shartar-Howe.

“It’s a great way for the community to see what students are doing because they don’t get the chance to see what students are doing in the classroom,” he said. “This brings the artwork to the community, and I think it’s a great source of connection.”

This year, the show will feature a wall of self-portraits compiled from students across all grade levels, with the goal of illustrating artistic growth as students move up through the school system. Each of Shartar-Howe’s students also had the opportunity to participate in creating a small piece of a larger project so that the exhibit includes every Abbot-Downing child’s work.

He looks forward to the show each year and especially loves the opening reception, which attracts several hundred attendees and includes a performance by Concord High School musicians.

“This a great way to show kids presenting—one of the national standards is presenting,” Shartar-Howe said. “This is a great way to do that, and we get to showcase it for the community. And the students really enjoy getting to see their artwork on display. I know a lot of the younger students get really excited.”

This year’s opening reception will take place on Tuesday, March 4 beginning at 5 p.m.

 

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com