The west-end walls of the Regis Center for Art are most often reserved for temporary exhibition space, student experimentation, and classwork displays. Tables and chairs are usually occupied by undergraduates — either rushing to finish assignments or fitting in a few zzz’s before class. The lighting is dim, the halls are drafty, and if it’s critique week, tensions are high.
That was simply not the case during the month of February. For 18 glorious days, the walls of Regis were covered floor to ceiling in bold, vibrant, shiny, shimmering, glittering, glazed, gold key receiving artworks of all sorts of mediums — and the artists? They were 7th to 12th grade art students, many of whom went on to receive entire portfolio honors at the Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards.