RIO GRANDE, Ohio — An exhibit featuring the artwork of local high school students is now on display at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College’s Greer Museum.

The exhibit is a juried show, which means that a panel of judges reviewed all of the pieces that were submitted and chose the ones that they liked best for the show.

The exhibit features artwork from the following high schools: Hannan, Wahama, Gallia Academy, River Valley, Southern, Jackson, Oak Hill, South Webster and Wellston.

The exhibit includes artworks that feature watercolors, acrylics, photography, scratch boards and even ceramics. The high school students did outstanding work on the different pieces, and everyone will enjoy looking over the artworks and seeing all of the talent in the local schools.

Professor Jim Allen explained that Rio Grande wanted to reach out to the local schools to encourage the young artists and display some of the work that they are doing. Many of the students may go on to study in Rio Grande’s art program, where they gain a great deal of knowledge and experience to prepare them to work as artists.

This is the first time that Rio Grande has held a juried art exhibit for local schools, and Allen said he was curious about the types of submissions the contest would receive.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Allen said, adding that the quality of the submissions was excellent.

The exhibit showcases many different artistic styles and themes that area residents will enjoy looking over. The show is only open until Monday Feb. 28, though, so all area residents are encouraged to stop by the Greer Museum soon to see these pieces.

On Feb. 28, a closing ceremony will be held from 5-7 p.m. Many of the student artists are expected to be at the closing ceremony, when awards and prizes will be given to the students with the top artworks.

After the current exhibit closes, the next three exhibits in the Greer Museum this semester will feature the top works of Rio Grande seniors who are studying art. These exhibits will give these students the opportunity to showcase the work they have done while studying at Rio Grande, and give them experience of running all aspects of operating an art exhibit. Area residents will want to watch for these exhibits as well, so they can see the high-quality work these young artists are producing.

The Greer Museum Gallery is open from 1-5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and all area residents are invited to see the current and future exhibits.