This painting by Benicia Middle School student Arlie Cunningham is one of several Benicia Unified School District student art pieces on display at Arts Benicia for its “Next Generation” exhibit. A reception will be held today from 1 to 3 p.m. (Painting by Arlie Cunningham)

Once again, the artistic youth of Benicia have their works displayed in the same gallery often reserved for seasoned artists. In other words, Arts Benicia’s “Next Generation” exhibition is open for viewing.

“Next Generation,” a semiannual exhibit showcasing work by Benicia artists ranging from kindergarteners to high school seniors, had its official opening yesterday. The show was first held in 1996 and continued to be an annual gallery highlight until it was replaced by other events. “Next Generation” was resurrected in 2010 by then-Arts Benicia Director Larnie Fox and has remained a staple ever since.

Through a partnership with Benicia Unified School District, teachers bring in the top pieces their students have worked on, whether in the STEAM Wheel program at the elementary schools, art classes at Benicia Middle School and Benicia High School or the Afterschool Art Club at Liberty High School, sponsored by Arts Benicia.

Lisa Jetonne Quintero, Arts Benicia’s new exhibitions and programs manager, said students can opt out and their parents have to sign permission slips.

“It’s work the student is willing to submit, work the teacher thinks is worthy of submitting and the parent has to give permission,” she said.

Despite these barriers, more than 200 works by students at all seven BUSD schools are hung on the walls, dangling from the ceiling or propped atop cubic podiums. The work is varied too. Students created everything from watercolors to pastels to ceramics to found objects to charcoal drawings to digital art. There are two-dimensional works, such as Robert Semple Elementary first-grader Mila Diaz’s collage titled “Northern Lights and Arctic Hare”— which depicts exactly that— and Benicia Middle Schooler Aidan Latham’s vector portrait of Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, created in Pat Hall’s art class. There are also a wide variety of three-dimensional works. Brace Bahn, a fifth-grader at Matthew Turner Elementary, created a piece using such materials as a tin can, metal bowl, circular mirror and wires to create a piece called “Metal Minion,” inspired by the characters from the “Despicable Me” film series. Janessa Wheeler, of Benicia High School, created a papier-mache stingray in Christine Chu’s art class. Finally, Jerahmeel Trimore of Liberty High School contributed a mixed media sculpture featuring a baby doll’s head on a block of wood wrapped up in gold chains with three arms, one of which has a heart dangling from a beaded chain.

Quintero was impressed with the variety of work being displayed.

“There’s such a range of styles and expressions,” she said. “Some of the projects, you can see that they may have been given similar materials and similar instructions, but they came up with wildly different ideas.”

“That’s hard to do if you’re working in a group sometimes,” she added.

Celeste Smeland, the executive director of Arts Benicia, hopes the show will highlight the importance of art education.

“It should be funded, and it should be honored as a key part of all students’ education,” she said. “Not only does it result in fabulous artwork, but it builds everything from creative thinking to problem-solving to collaboration. I’m very proud of all the work here and all the hard work that the teachers do to work with the students.”

Quintero hopes students know “that creativity is valued in this community.”

“Next Generation” will be on display at Arts Benicia through April 8. A reception will be held today from 1 to 3 p.m. with the director’s welcome at 2. A social media station will be set up, and people are encouraged to post pictures of artwork to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #futurefamousartist. Family Art Day, which provides children and their parents to take part in an art project, will be held from t to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 18. All events are free, open to the public and held at Arts Benicia, 991 Tyler St. Suite No. 114. For more information, go to artsbenicia.org.

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