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Art teachers Samantha Dorman and Raissa Hinueber spent Wednesday afternoon setting up artwork from Albert Lea High School students in preparation for the Albert Lea Area Schools: K-12 Art Show, which will be displayed at the Albert Lea Art Center through April 26. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

Samantha Dorman, an art teacher at Albert Lea High School, places students' art on the wall at the Art Center in preparation for the year's K-12 Art Show. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

Artwork by third-graders at Sibley Elementary School displayed at the Albert Lea Art Center as part of the 2024-2025 K-12 Art Show. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

A wide variety of mediums will be displayed at the K-12 Art Show, including these three-dimensional pieces made by students at Albert Lea High School. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

Art made by students at Albert Lea High School will be displayed as part of the Albert Lea Area Schools: K-12 Art Show at the Albert Lea Art Center through April 26. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

Students of all ages on Saturday will have the opportunity to showcase their artwork at the Albert Lea Art Center’s collaboration with Albert Lea Area Schools during the annual K-12 Art Show.

Participating schools include Halverson, Hawthorne, Lakeview and Sibley elementary schools as well as Southwest Middle School, Albert Lea High School and the Area Learning Center. It will encompass student artwork from any time in the 2024-25 school year, from August up until the week of the exhibit opening.

High school art teachers Raissa Hinueber and Samantha Dorman said they, as well as other school art teachers, collect pieces throughout the year they think will accurately represent the creativity and variety of students at Albert Lea schools.

“It’s a variety of different classes,” Hinueber said. “It could be digital art, it could be drawing … It could be a sculpture class, a mixed media class. Really just any of the classes people have taken.”

Hinueber added she and Dorman look for pieces with a variety of subject matter, size and scale.

“We’re just hoping to showcase as much different work as we possibly can from the range of classes,” she said.

When a teacher finds something they think would be good for the show, Hinueber said they ask the student if they are open to having their work displayed, and they usually say yes.

“I think a lot of people do like to share their work,” she said. “It’s kind of an honor after spending a lot of time and energy, class minutes, creating, so it’s an added layer of sharing what they’ve created in class and spent so much time and invested energy on.”

Hinueber said she and Dorman cover work done by eighth- through 12th-graders, and art teachers from the younger grades cover student art from their respective schools.

Many elementary schools will have exhibits in which multiple students complete the same project during a class.

All the art teachers in the school district work together to make arrangements with the Art Center, set everything up, celebrate the opening and take down the exhibit when it closes, Hinueber said.

“We’re just trying to get everything up and ready to roll,” she said.

The K-12 Art Show has been happening for many years and has taken place at a variety of different venues. In prior years, it was at Northbridge Mall and the building that now displays work from the Freeborn County Arts Initiative. During COVID years, Hinueber said, the art was displayed online.

Both Hinueber and Dorman agreed they love seeing the excitement of students when they get to share their work with the community.

“I think oftentimes, unless students share their work on their own, it’s not always shared on a greater platform, so it’s nice for the community to see what we’re working on,” said Hinueber.

An opening reception for the Albert Lea Area Schools: K-12 Art Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Art Center. It is open to the public so all are invited to see what the city’s children and young adults have been working on.

Through April 26 the public can visit the Art Center and view the students’ artwork during normal business hours — Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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