For the last ten years, Notre Dame Academy art students have been the happy beneficiaries of a relationship unique among most secondary schools in the area, if not the country. On Thursday, February 7th, the eleventh annual Notre Dame Academy Art Exhibition will open at the Bryne Gallery, located at 7 West Washington Street in the village. This year's show is titled, "Picture This."

Wayne Paige, the Chair of Notre Dame Academy's Art Department, became part of the school's fabric eleven years ago as well. Coincidence? Not likely.

"One of the first people I was lucky enough to meet when I joined the community eleven years ago," said Paige, "was Susan Byrne, owner of the Byrne Gallery. That first fortuitous meeting really was the start of something that has been very, very special to our students over the last several years."

That something special, of course, is the Notre Dame Academy Art Exhibition, a partnership between Notre Dame and the Byrne Gallery that allows students not only the cherished opportunity to see their work hanging on a wall or sitting on a display shelf in an actual gallery, but also allows them to experience all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into putting on a gallery exhibition.

"I came to Notre Dame after working for 25 years as a drafting and art instructor at Eastern High School," Paige said. "And when I came out here, I was given the incredibly exciting opportunity to grow the existing art department into something just as important to the students' development as our first-rate academic and athletic programs."

The first year of the show, the artwork on display comprised a couple of dozen pieces and took up one wall of the Bryne Gallery. This year's show will include nearly 200 pieces submitted by dozens of young artists. According to Paige, "there are any number of reasons to do something like this, from the fact that this may be a once in a lifetime experience for many of the kids to the wide range of skills it helps develop besides the actual artistic ones, skills like planning, scheduling, event management, taking ownership of real detail-oriented tasks and assignments."

The show has grown through the years, paralleling Notre Dame's emphasis on the arts. Two expansive, sun-washed studios sit atop the school's main academic building, housing an incredibly diverse collection of art, equipment and bustling students. Music poured happily from one of the studios during a recent visit as Jill Palumbo, a recent addition to the Notre Dame art faculty, ran one of her ceramics classes. Down the hall, a different group of students worked intently on their papers, straight-edges and compasses skittering and spinning, young Gehry's and Wright's lost in the limitless possibilities of architectural drafting.

The art program that Paige has helped shepherd and grow over the years focuses on creativity and imagination, encouraging students to look far and wide for inspiration and pushing the limits of their experience and knowledge. Fundamentals are by no means ignored but you get the sense that these students have more room to spread their wings than more traditional art-programs might afford. That spirit of exploration, combined with the nurturing atmosphere created by the school's small class-sizes, has promoted a love of art that sticks with many of the students for years afterwards.

"More and more of our students are going on to study art in college and pursuing art-related careers," says Paige. Prestigious art schools such as The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Parsons, The Corcoran and Rhode Island School of Design are more and more likely to be the colleges Notre Dame students move on to upon graduation.

Ceramics, drawing, painting, photography and mixed-media art will all be featured at "Picture This." Local artist Linda Hughes will again reprise her role as one of the show's jurors, bringing her critical eye to bear and helping review the displayed work, and awards and prizes will be presented in each of the show's five categories.

In yet another display of the partnerships engendered by the show most of the prizes awarded to students are donated by local businesses and merchants. And, as she or he has for the last seven years, the artist judged best in show will once again be awarded the annual Mrs. Susan Bryne Purchase Prize Award. The award is dedicated to Mrs. Susan Bryne, mother of the gallery's owner and lifelong art lover and teacher.

Paul Rice, a senior this year at Notre Dame, and a veteran of three prior Student Art Exhibitions, had heard of the unique program before he came to Notre Dame, and it played a big part in bringing him to campus. "Being chosen to represent the school and your fellow students is always an incredible honor," said young Rice. "Being able to showcase our art to the community is exciting and the exposure is a really great opportunity. Mr. Paige and Ms. Palumbo are amazing. I'd always loved art, drawing, painting and everything else, but the program here has really helped me grow and mature as an artist."

Looking through part of Rice's portfolio, his talent is apparent. But spending time with him, spending time around some of his fellow students and with Wayne Paige and Jill Palumbo it is equally apparent that talent is not the only thing these students bring to the picture. The clear love of the art, the clear pleasure and thrill these students derive from the classes and the Art Exhibition is truly something to behold. And this February, from Thursday the 7th until Sunday the 10th, you'll be able to see that talent, live and in person, at the Bryne Gallery. Take some time to take a look. You won't regret it.