Alton High Students' Artwork Accepted in Major Local Art Shows

ALTON - Alton High School art students have two major opportunities to exhibit their work.

The 2026 Annual High School Art Exhibition, hosted by the Art & Design Department at SIUE, will feature seven Alton students’ pieces, with a closing reception and awards ceremony planned for 5–7 p.m. on March 26, 2026. A few student artworks are also displayed at Jacoby Art Center in Alton starting March 14 through April 18, 2026.

Bridget Heck, chair of the art department at Alton High School, is proud of her students and eager to see their success beyond the classroom. She emphasized that all of these students worked incredibly hard on their art and deserve the recognition coming their way.

“I think it’s just inspiration all around,” she said. “It’s so much fun for the students to see their work in a gallery space outside of the school, and it’s also cool to see the work of other students and what they’re doing.”

The seven Alton High School students whose work is displayed at SIUE are as follows: Kyridas Orr, for the piece “Fire and Desire”; Alphonz Hamilton, for the piece “Phonz Times Five”; Sydney Swagler, for the piece “Pieces of Me”; Hannah Bland, for the piece “An Ode to Hockney”; Xavier Robinson, for the piece “Please”; Pilar Gardner, for the piece “Until You Come Back to Me”; and Iyani Lawrence, for the piece “Born Cool (Miles Davis).”

Heck noted that many of these pieces are large-scale artworks, as the art department received a grant from the Alton Education Association that allowed them to provide students with these materials. These artworks are in order in the slideshow below.

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The 2026 Annual High School Art Exhibition is a juried art show, and schools from across the Greater St. Louis area are included. Heck believes it is “really rewarding” for students to showcase their work and see what other students across the region are doing.

Additionally, most of the art students have “got the creative bug” now that they have completed these projects. Heck is eager to see them move onto their next big piece.

She added that it’s important for students to “see an authentic voice and authentic experience” by attending these exhibits and sharing their art. Many of these students plan to go into a creative field in the future.

“It’s neat to see them develop their creative eye and their skills and the mediums they like,” Heck said. “It's a lot of fun.”

She encourages the community to attend the art exhibits while they’re available and view the artwork that Alton High School students are creating. She believes the chance to share their art is one of the greatest opportunities for these students.

“Making art is as much for the audience as it is for the creators. So the interpretation for the viewer is important, too, for the overall creative experience,” she said. “Why would we be making art if nobody was able to see it?”

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