Revelstoke Secondary School art program had its big opening on Friday when the show, Don't Hide the Madness, debuted at the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre.
"The standard of work as you can see if just fantastic," said RVAC director Jackie Pendergast, who gave credit to art teacher Theresa Browning.
The show was the first in recent years at the arts centre by high school students. It featured about 70 pieces in a variety of mediums.
"The work I've seen produced i art class and the dedication I've seen from the students and Mrs. Browning is incredibly impressive," said RSS principal Greg Kenyon.
The works came from a mixture of class assignments and pieces produced specifically for the show, said Browning.
One assignment was to create mirrored black-and-white images. Some students chose to display works from an assignment on landscape paintings.
Alex Saar's digital work, Don't Hide the Madness, where the name of the show was taken, was from an assignment where students were asked to find quotes, and then illustrate them.
The quote, by Allen Ginsberg, was "Follow your inner moonlight; don't hid the madness."
"I wanted a quote that showed off being yourself and expressing who you are," he said.
Saar's work features a photo of himself super-imposed over an image of the moon. Surrounding it are edited images of tools he uses to be creative – a pen, paintbrushes, a computer mouse, an iPod and a video game controller (because he likes playing video games).
He will be attending the graphic design for marketing program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University next year. His goal is to be an art director for a marketing of design company.
"I'm super excited to get started on that next year," he said.
Courtney Smith had two works on display. One was a lion mask inspired by a scene out of Harry Potter. The other was from an assignment where students were asked to create an MC Escher-like transformation. Smith, who is very tall herself, did a drawing of a tree transforming into a giraffe. She said she started by coming up with the drawing of the giraffe and working backwards towards the tree.
Overall, there are more than 70 works on display by 50 students. Some are for sale, some aren't. Check with the visual arts centre to find out which ones are for sale. The exhibit closes on Friday, June 7.