Pablo Picasso once said: “Every child is an artist.”

Evidence supporting this claim can be viewed in the 32nd annual Student Art Show at the Boothbay Region Art Foundation through Sunday, May 17.

As you walk through the door of BRAF, initially, the varied and colorful pieces delight the eye, entreat the imagination and engage the heart.

The show opened on May 8 and, on Mother's Day, the opening reception was held with light refreshments of cupcakes and punch. June Campbell Rose, BRAF board member and gallery “guru” said that throughout the course of the day over 100 people came by to see the show.

This colorful, whimsical, thought provoking exhibition features the works of budding artists in grades pre-K-12 at Boothbay Region Elementary School with teacher Jessica Nadeau, Boothbay Region High School with Manon Lewis; Elizabeth Proffetty at Southport Central School and with integrated studies teacher Robin MacCready at Edgecomb Eddy School.

BRHS students covered a lot of creative ground in various forms including pop art in the style of Roy Lichtenstein, mosaics, relief sculpture in the style of famous painters, abstract expressionism in pastels, art with a social message, contour hand drawing, Tibetan peace or prayer flags, mandalas, and zendoodles or zentangles.

Art with a message projects by Jackie McLoon and Kate Friant addressed self image and technology being the sum total of our selves, respectively, and are well executed. The Tibetan peace/prayer flags are a challenge to read, but not impossible from where they are hung. There is so much to see from the high school artists.

At BRES, students tried their hands, and imaginations, at self portrait drawing, weaving, plaster sculpture, ceramics, wire animals, pencil sketches of birds, line sculpture, primary colors and line drawing, collage, primary color monoprint, among numerous other mediums.

“This year all students pre-kindergarten through 6th grade have one piece in the show,” said Nadeau. “And selected works by students in middle school were selected to be downtown.”

All of the pieces by BRES’ students are fabulous: colorful, attention grabbing and enchanting, from the pre-K self portraits to the plaster sculptures of the eighth grade students.

MacCready’s Edgecomb Eddy artists explored linoleum block printing (see the snowflakes in the show) during their study of the Arctic and Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley. Bentley was the first person to magnify a single snowflake, that’s right — a single flake — in 1885. He went on to photograph over 5,000 in his lifetime. Students used a photograph of one of Bentley's snowflake photos, magnified to a workable size.

Some of the work for the show was selected as projects were completed, but only if the student wanted it used in the show. Some students just want to take their art home — and don’t moms and dads love that!

Projects included self portraits, abstract self portraits (during the study of Picasso), and Inuit animal art.

“I think the pieces are a good representation of what each project was,” MacCready said. “When we studied the Inuit art, the students learned animals are really important to Inuit culture; and their art used very stylized lines. The students tried to capture the essence of the animal they chose.”

At Southport's Central School, students also created self portraits or portraits of other people, nature and wildlife paintings and more. The self portraits, some with dual faces (Picasso) are quite striking, with unusual lines. You could spend a long time just checking these out. 

Profetty said the classes spent a lot of time on the technique of drawing facial features and the study of the face from various angles.

The pastel drawings of birds and nature are impressive reflecting the students’ attention to blending colors and creating texture within feathers and tree trunks.

This exhibition also has some art that brought a great deal of fun to the opening reception. Take BRHS Senior Karl Alamo's take on Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.”

“We had a lot of fun with that one,” said June Campbell Rose, BRAF board member and gallery guru. “Different people would pose with their eyes for the face. Karl chose not to put in the features. I thought: ‘Wow!’ It makes her so ... mysterious.”

Every child really is an artist. See for yourself — this exhibition is on display through Sunday, May 17 and Rose says punch and cupcakes will be served beginning at noon.

The Boothbay Region Art Foundation is located at 1 Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor.