The Margaret Harwell Art Museum board found itself in a pinch last year when an artist canceled a show at the last minute. Its solution was to lead into the upcoming Annual Juried High School Art Exhibit with an invitational show from the best of the best in elementary school art. The first Elementary Art K-8 Invitational Art Exhibit was such a success, the MHAM board decided to make it a yearly event, according to Director Steve Whitworth.
“It went really well last year. We had parents and grandparents, we had people in the museum discover what a wonderful place it was that’d never been in the museum before,” he said.
The second-ever Elementary Art K-8 Invitational Art Exhibit opens this weekend a reception March 5, and the show runs through March 26. The museum has encouraged schools who missed out during the first exhibition to join in, and about 100 participants are expected this year with all-new projects.
“They do different things every year... It’s juried by the art teachers at the individual schools,” Whitworth explained.
“This is a non-competitive exhibit. This is just teachers selecting samples from their students at their individual schools, kindergarten through eighth grade,” he went on. “In high school it’s more elective and you have chosen to go into that field, and so it’s good to have competition to bring out more creativity and more work ethic...to create exemplary works of art.”
Students get excitement and artistic experience through the show, but they are not the only ones who enjoy it. Whitworth hopes more people will discover the museum through youth artwork and make a point of coming in again.
“Art isn’t for snobs, art is for people enthusiastic about beautiful things. You don’t have to know anything particular, you just have to know what you like and you know that already. But it opens your eyes into what other possibilities are there in the art world,” he said.
The Margaret Harwell Art Museum is located at 421 N. Main St. Open hours are 12-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. There is no admission charge.