This month, the Lake Placid Center for the Arts celebrated local student artwork through a confluence of three different annual programs:

LPCA’s High School Juried Art Show, Lake Placid Institute’s Great Adirondack Young People’s Poetry Showcase and the Institute’s 24 Hours: A Photographic Interpretation of Life in the Adirondacks exhibition.

Over 650 K-12 students from across the North Country participated in these programs, submitting poems, paintings, photographs and more. Local professional artists served as jurors, selecting works to either be included in an exhibition or poetry book, and recognizing some of the most extraordinary work with awards.

When I spent time looking through these collections, I was overwhelmed by pride and appreciation for all of these emerging voices in our community.

It’s undeniable that our students are using art to explore and express their experience with open-mindedness and curiosity, leading to the possibility for connection, or maybe even someday, change.

Their work is infused with reverence and wonder, gratitude, perseverance and the sense that starting a conversation about their own experiences — even difficult ones — is a worthwhile endeavor.

It is a joy to celebrate these students and their beautiful work. How lucky we are to live in a place where schools, families and community organizations can come together to support our young people and encourage them to keep exploring the world through art.

The High School Art Show is on display at the LPCA through May 17, and the Lake Placid Institute’s collections can be found online:

— lakeplacidinstitute.org/photography (Featuring high school students — The book of selected photographs includes wonderful short essays by the students, explaining their viewpoint.)

— lakeplacidinstitute.org/poetry (Featuring K-12 students and their poems on topics of all kinds.)

Alison Simcox is director of Communications at Lake Placid Center for the Arts.