Every student—almost 600!—had a piece of art on display at the annual Gallery Night event held recently in the Hunters Creek Elementary (HCE) cafeteria.

Stunning paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, embroidery, weavings, self-portraits, collages, landscapes and more filled the temporary gallery space. Students arrived with their families to proudly search for and showcase their creations in the transformed cafeteria.

Behind the curtain on the stage, a special exhibit featured paintings made with glow-in-the-dark paint that popped with color under black lights.

HCE art teacher Maggi Cummings has organized the school’s Gallery Night every May during her 17-year tenure. She carefully maintains a list of every student in each class to ensure everyone is represented. The PTA helps set up the event for the early evening showcase.

“This is my favorite event of the year,” said Cummings. “The kids take such pride in it and love coming to show off their work to their families.”

If a student had trouble finding their piece among the hundreds on display, Mrs. Cummings consulted her clipboard to provide clues on where to locate it.

Throughout the school year, Cummings exposes students to a wide range of art techniques and styles. Some projects are inspired by iconic artists such as Kandinsky, Van Gogh, Klimt and Picasso. For one assignment, students listened to the musical story Peter and the Wolf and created abstract works based on the instruments and rhythms.

A separate project had students imagine what Houston might look like if dinosaurs returned, resulting in creative skyline illustrations featuring prehistoric creatures. Clay projects ranged from imaginative ice cream sundaes and mixed-breed animals to monsters and whimsical birds.

“It’s interesting—some students are better at drawing and painting, while others excel in the clay assignments,” Cummings said.

When asked to describe their work, students shared the following reflections:

• “We had to draw a picture of ourselves with just one continuous line. You can’t pick it up and put it back down—just one big line. I’ve never been in an art show before because I never felt like an artist. Now I do.”

• “I think it is amazing to have my art on display. It feels like we can be creative and do whatever we want. Sometimes you have to believe in yourself. After doing art like this for years and years, you can get better.”

• “This is my monster sculpture. I chose this shape because it looks cool. I think I want to name it Fred.”

• “We had to draw a picture of a person. It makes me feel happy to have my art here so I can show my mommy.”

• “I had to measure out 19 spaces around the paper plate and make cuts to put the yarn in. We had to weave it over and under. At this show, people can see how creative one person can be.”

• “In this picture, we used shapes to create a face. We used paper, glue and scissors. The hardest part was the eyelashes.”

Families who attended Gallery Night also had the chance to meet Lindy Robertson, who will serve as principal next school year.

“The art is beautiful,” Robertson told Cummings, admiring her work in organizing the event. “This is really amazing.”

As the school year winds down, the students and families of HCE reflected on a year full of creativity at Gallery Night—an evening to reconnect, celebrate artistic expression, and start looking ahead to summer.

Congratulations to all the budding artists whose imaginative work continues the tradition of excellence at Hunters Creek.