Killeen ISD art teachers assembled in front of the door leading into the Killeen Civic and Conference Center ballroom and thousands of pieces of student artwork.
With a quick snip of a ceremonial ribbon, KISD’s annual visual art show opened Wednesday, and waves of students, parents and other admirers poured into the venue.
The public is welcome to visit the unadjudicated art show, which features a huge assortment of pieces created by KISD elementary, middle school and high school students.
It will continue through March 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. On Tuesday, the show is open from 1 to 7 p.m.
Introducing the district’s 20th annual art show, Superintendent John Craft and Fine Arts Director Karen Herrera welcomed the crowd and praised students’ creativity.
Assistant Director of Fine Arts Morganne Davies introduced teachers on the Visual Art Leadership Team.
She pointed out that the art on display this week is the result of a year’s worth of work ranging from beginning art classes to award-earning pieces from advanced high school art students.
Divided by specific schools, the artwork includes the work of students from 11 middle schools, six high schools and four elementary schools.
Killeen High School senior Emma Rickman was one of scores of students at the show opener with her family.
“I think it’s really pretty,” she said of the displays. “I like seeing all the different styles.”
She said she enjoyed the challenge that art gives her, and most enjoys graphic drawings.
The largest display in the room, at the rear of the ballroom, was a collaborative effort from all the art classes at Audie Murphy Middle School.
The paper mâché sculpture of a dandelion towers over 10 feet. It took Elizabeth Ferguson and Carlos Armas’ combined classes about a month to complete.
The dandelion is the symbol of the military child, Ferguson pointed out.
The sculpture contains the names of every student at Audie Murphy, the only middle school located on Fort Hood.
Names of sixth-graders are written on the leaves. Names of seventh-graders are on the flowers. Names of eighth-graders are on the seeds, preparing to scatter to the high schools.
“They enjoyed the messy fun,” said Ferguson. “We set achievable goals,” she said, explaining how students split time between working on the huge piece and completing other assignments during the semester.
“They liked the concept of it, and it gave us a chance to reflect on the life of a military child,” the art teacher said.
“A lot of them don’t even realize how unique their lives are,” Ferguson said. Many of her students are surprised to find out their teacher spent all of her childhood in the same house in the same town.
