Drawings and pottery and necklaces scattered around Linganore High School (LHS). Every piece tells a different story, from student memories to favorite songs.
On Tuesday, April 28, Linganore’s art department held their 34th Annual Art Exhibition on the main street of the school.
Families, friends and students alike were invited to attend and wander through the walls and display cases set up with various student pieces from the 2025-2026 school year. The walls were filled with 2D art pieces, while the main display cases featured ceramics and small sculptures, in addition to the jewelry display cases.
This event had been months in the making. Art students had been putting countless hours of effort into their pieces for the past year and were ecstatic to finally display them.
For the Advanced Placement (AP) Art students in particular, the exhibition was an opportunity to showcase their work and skill development from every year spent in this class.
“I got to put up all my work out from all of high school, and it really showed my growth as an art kid,” LHS senior and National Art Honor Society (NAHS) Historian Ela Curran said. “It’s also kinda sad because it’s the last time my things are going to be shown at Linganore.”
Outside of the projects displayed, Linganore’s NAHS members had plenty of work cut out for them to get the show put on. From matting work and velcroing them to re-polishing jewelry pieces, members put hours of work into preparing for a talent-filled night.
During the event, NAHS also hosted a sale of various art pieces, including needle-felted keychains, ceramic bowls and painted keychains. All items were meticulously crafted by the club’s members to raise money for the organization.
After event attendees had time to peruse the talent encapsulated in the projects displayed, everyone was guided into the cafeteria for a ceremony run by NAHS at 6 p.m. A speech about the program was given by NAHS Co-Presidents Jenna Ablondi and Juliette Soisson.
The speech also recognized the various awards received by members of Linganore’s art program, including The Regional Scholastic Awards. Honorable mentions were received by William Emmerich for computer graphics, Leticia Oliveira for ceramics and Lila Hawkins for photography.
Seniors Dorian Lukaszewicz and Mallory Mills both received a Silver Key (High Honors) for photography and junior Amilia Nasto for ceramics. Nasto also received a Gold Key (Highest Honors) for ceramics.
Senior Ela Curran received all of the above for drawing and painting.
Additionally, students had work showcased for Youth Art Month at the Delaplaine Arts Center, as well as The Bettie Awards, where Curran and Nasto were finalists.
In their speech, Ablondi and Soisson also gave thanks to the wonderful art teachers of LHS, including NAHS advisors Christian Madenspacher (AP Studio Art, Art 2-4 and Ceramics 1-4) and Hannah Shinozaki (Ceramics 1 and Jewelry 1-3), as well as Doug Niemier (Art 1, Unified Arts, Publications and Computer Graphics), Mike Heller (Digital Photography and Computer Graphics) and Sonya Everett (Art 1 and Computer Graphics.)
Though Madenspacher could not make it to the evening’s event, he still had many kind words to share about the student participants.
“The countless hours, the commitment and effort that you guys put into your different projects, that students in the building, other teachers in the building, members in the community, your parents and such, they don’t really see that,” Madenspacher said. “So, being able to see that all group together kind of finalizes the puzzle for you.”
The ceremony culminated with the induction of the new NAHS members and recognition of returning members. All members received certificates, and seniors received their honor cords.
The formal portion of the evening was then drawn to a close and members took a photo together on the stairs. Attendees had the opportunity to continue admiring the talent of LHS’ young artists, and seniors got to soak up their final show.
“It is truly amazing, the power that art has to inspire, motivate and educate, and I think it is very evident that this is happening right here at Linganore High School,” Soisson said.
