“Art Connects Us,” a celebration of Youth Art Month, features over 100 works by local students.

Annual youth exhibit opens at Petaluma Arts Center

Anyone who is interested in the future of art ‒ curious about what tomorrow might bring to the worlds of painting, drawing, photography and sculpture ‒ might want to look closely at the work that is already being produced by the young artists of today. For the next several weeks, that kind of enlightening glimpse ahead is exactly what awaits art-loving visitors to the Petaluma Arts Center.

Every March, the Arts Center team observes international Youth Art Month with a grand annual exhibition titled Art Connects Us. A visual demonstration of the ways that creativity can bring people from diverse backgrounds and world views together, the Arts Center’s sprawling students-only show ‒ vividly illuminating the walls and display blocks of the two gallery spaces ‒ is described by co-curators Lisa Lightman and Leslie Ihrig as “a month of celebration, awareness and advocacy for art in our schools.”

“This is our favorite show of the year,” said Ihrig, the Arts Center’s chair of education, addressing the crowd alongside Lightman, the Center’s current chair of exhibitions. “As a retired Petaluma City schoolteacher, I am incredibly proud to be part of this amazing exhibition.”