Niles West hosted its annual Junior. High Art Show on Wed. Jan. 24. Selected students from feeder schools got their pieces displayed in West’s Art Gallery above the auditorium. During the night, students’ families were not only able to come and see their children’s work displayed, but they also watched as the students were awarded certificates for their art pieces.

West has hosted the art show every year for over a decade. The junior high art teachers get to pick what students they think would be a good fit to participate in the show. Parkview teacher Jennifer Minelli picks her students on who shows the most dedication toward their pieces.

“We spot artists who gravitate and hang out in the art room, so early in the school year I will ask kids if they are willing and interested in submitting a piece for the show. You see who is really dedicated and who wants to make their piece better and who spends the time to improve. We spot the work ethic early on which is how we decide who gets to participate. We have two students who have been in the show multiple times, we get to decide between seventh and eighth graders but every once in a while we get sixth graders who we feel are really ready,” Minelli said.

First-year ceramics teacher, Dawn Zalkus organized the show this year. Being a first year teacher, she wanted to assist the middle schoolers in their transition from junior high to high school. The art teachers at West encourage the kids to take classes at West and continue pursuing their interest in art.

“As a first-year teacher here I was able to meet all the Jr. high teachers. It was a great collaborative process, we were able to talk about the curriculum and work together on this beautiful show. It helps transition students from the jr high level to the West art program. We are always looking to evolve, we made some changes this year but we are always looking to learn and grow,” Zalkus said.

The West Art Department had volunteers to help organize this night, Summer Del La Cruz, senior, and Brianna Cronologia, junior, were both there to assist. They were there running the button station where kids could go and make their own pins to take home. Both students put in a lot of work to make the night run smoothly.

“First we set up in the AP 2D Design classroom, we set up the doodle board and the button station. Then we set up everything in the gallery. We had to set up tables, set cookies out, and print papers promoting the different art classes that West offers. All of the art teachers took the day to set up the junior high students’ art pieces and made sure everything looked good,” Cronologia said.

The chosen students’ artwork from feeder schools Fairview, Parkview, Lincoln Hall, Lincoln Jr and Culver will be displayed in the gallery until the end of February.