Russellville Middle School art teacher Nancy Meeks says everything in the world around us is a form of art.

This is the philosophy she hopes to pass along to her art students at the school.

Art students Paige Daniels, Hannah Akers, Mikaila Fuller, and Jesse Vincent help teacher Nancy Meeks sort through the artwork for the show next week. | Melissa Cason/FCT

“I hope my class teaches the students to be more perceptive of what they see around them,” Meeks said. “I want them to see the world in a different way – as art – because almost everything we touch is art.”

Meeks has about 130 students who participate in the art program at the middle school. Those students will showcase their artistic talents next week as the school hosts their annual art show.

“We are going to have 200 pieces in the show,” Meeks said.

The show will be held Thursday, May 13 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The show will feature pottery and weaving in addition to drawings and paintings. The show will also feature artwork from different teachers at the middle school.

“This is a time for everyone to come out and see what our students have been working on this year,” Meeks said.

Meeks said the students are very fortunate to be able to study art during the school hours.

“We are very fortunate to be in a school system that that thinks art is important enough to offer it to our students each year,” Meeks said.

Art student Mikaila Fuller said she loves art because it gives her a break from her regular class work.

“It gives us a chance to express ourselves,” Fuller said.

Since the students study different areas of art, they each have their favorites.

“I mostly like the drawing,” Paige Daniels said. “I like to draw cartoons, animals and people.”

While some forms of art is easy to love, Hannah Akers learned that you don’t have to love something up front in order to appreciate it and develop a love for it.

“Watercolors is my favorite but I  hated it at first,” Akers said. “I learned to like it [watercolors] as we used them more and more. Now, I really enjoy the watercolors. It became easier.”

Jesse Vincent likes the clay work the best.
“I really like working with the clay and making something instead of drawing or painting,” Vincent said. “We made a clock this year. Last year, we made a bowl from clay. It was pretty cool.”