The entrance to the Glow Gallery features a submarine and other bright ocean elements. “We All Live in a Yellow Submarine” was one of the featured music selections there. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

PARKERSBURG — All the students at Franklin Elementary know their stuff and many of them proved that to their parents Tuesday evening.

They proudly took their parents’ hands and pulled them through Franklin’s specially decorated halls, gym and special rooms and made a beeline for their very own “stuff,” the artwork they have been creating throughout the school year.

“Oh, what a pretty picture!” one of the parents exclaimed to her daughter.

“Yah,” the girl, casually agreeing, said.

This was the “Under the Sea” art exhibition, a first-time event put together by several of the school’s reading resource teachers, backed by the pre-K through Grade 5 teachers and given a boost by Partners in Education.

First grader Andres Amezquita produces art with paint and fresh produce as his mother, Daisy Rocha, watches. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

There was an underwater aquarium made on the glass windows of the long hallway. Occasionally, there was an encounter a coral reef. But mostly, it was smooth sailing for many fish, jellyfish and other sea creatures who glided through a translucent blue background and dimmed hallway lighting. The aquarium was reading resource teacher Christina Hinkel’s creation.

The gym became a gallery built of big cardboard boxes painted black. David and Cynthia Puls played elegant string music to complement the “classy” vibe. Reading specialist Kim Fulton spent much time doing the matting for the hundred pieces of student art that were displayed there.

The Underwater Glow Gallery rocked with fluorescent paint creations, black light and old tunes that celebrated the sea theme. We All Live in a Yellow Submarine. Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay. Down by the Boardwalk. Reading specialist Aimee Morrison was responsible for the glow glamor. She based it on a show with glow paints that she did last year and now continues in a Fun Friday behavior management activity. Morrison is also the one who pitched the initial idea for the art show and the teachers agreed.

Each grade level, two classes per level, had a sea creature to research.

Artsbridge member Michelle Waters was at a popular table where she started out as an artist who was sharing her craft with onlookers. She had decided to demonstrate creating art using food, and she had the fruits and veggies ready for action.

Artsbridge artist Michelle Waters demonstrates how to use fruits and vegetables as elements in art. Eventually, she quit the demonstration and helped the students do it themselves. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

“The kids were fascinated,” she said. “They wanted to do it and I thought, ‘and so they shall.’ So here at the end, they’re doing it and I’m just helping.” She laughed. “It’s completely out of control.”

The Parkersburg South High School and Edison Middle School art programs also had items on display. Duane Nutt’s baking class at Parkersburg South provided finger foods and treats. There is a natural connection between the older students and Franklin Elementary, Morrison said, since that is their feeder school. Most of them attended Franklin in their earlier years.

The teachers have all been very supportive, too. They followed a process where they kept selected pieces of each student’s art throughout the year, enough that each child would have three or four pieces displayed. Since Franklin has two classes per level, Pre-K through Grade 5, it amounts to hundreds and hundreds of items to select, store, handle, label and display.

It represented many hours of after-school work to bring it all together, Morrison said. But it’s been a great way to encourage parents to respond to the school because they all have children with art on display.

Creating art at the school has brought beautiful colors and shapes, amazing imaginations and excitement. But the true beauty is in the fact that every student is represented, several times over. “We wanted a way to include everyone,” Morrison said. “All the kids participated, and they are invested in this.”

The long hallway was transformed into a glass aquarium. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

Nancy Taylor can be reached at ntaylor@newsandsentinel.com.

Third grader Ashlin Whitehead reads aloud for her parents and a friend from her essay, “What I will be like when I am 100.” (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

Pre-Kindergarten student Mitchell Townsend is shown with the Very Special Wheel he invented. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

Jace Shustar completes a self-portrait. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

Pre-Kindergartener Amelia Midcap begins to create a watercolor fish as her father, Ivan, looks on. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

Christina Hinkel, reading resource teacher, stands in the glass aquarium she created out of the Franklin hallway. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

Second-grade teacher Lakyn Gray, pictured with some of her students’ work, says she began teaching after the start of the school year but she and her students “buckled down and caught up” on multiple items of artwork they produced for the exhibit. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)