On the evening of May 1, 2026, more than 300 people packed the Titan Student Art Exhibition at Del Ray Artisans Gallery to see Alexandria City High School students showcase their talents. After 10 years of not hosting this event, Del Ray Artisans decided to reinstate the annual exhibition in 2025 to bring appreciation to the artistic abilities among the diverse student body of ACHS.
“All the different backgrounds just lead to an amazing collection,” said Del Ray Artisans President Dawn Hurto. “The diversity is my favorite part, just seeing all these wonderful young minds come together and celebrate the visual art.”
To kick off the event, ACHS Performing Arts teacher Kevin Pace led a select group of his band and orchestra students in a classical performance for attendees to listen to as they explored the gallery.
Later in the evening, Eller presented awards to the students who qualified. For students to win an award, they had to be nominated by their art teacher and then voted on by the board of jurors consisting of Kay Brady, Courtney Pippin-Mathur, Ted Reed, Irby Vinson, and Diane Waggoner.
Senior Anna McMahon received an award for her painting titled “Robbed Roots” and is inspired by the handwoven Ghanaian textile, Kente cloth.
(Carly Edmonson)
Another winning student, sophomore Viviana Wayland, received an Honorable Mention for her painting titled Checkmate.
In addition to presenting their art, students had the opportunity to sell their creations to members of the community. Many students sold their pieces within a couple hours of the event starting, including sophomore Cooper Vasilic who made a Linoleum Print titled “Pigident.”
Vasilic said that he appreciates the collaborative feeling that events like this provide students with, but especially acknowledges the unique opportunities to express themselves and share what they are passionate about. “I have a lot of opinions on the political state of the country, and I just really wanted to create a piece to show exactly what I thought.”
Senior Ziona Miller also believes that art is an outlet to express herself and share beliefs that aren’t easy to talk about. She attributes the meaning of her painting, titled “I Do,” to “being trapped in a heteronormative marriage,” and says that she feels this issue is important to discuss because people often fail to “understand the morbidity of marital commitment when you aren’t ready.”
Art in the Alexandria community highlights the diversity of student perspectives, and the Titan Student Art Exhibition at Del Ray Artisans Gallery showcased that by gathering people of all different backgrounds to share their creations.
Senior Tomar Crawford, along with countless other students, has struggled with his passions and found art to be a vessel to share his interests free of judgement.
“I want to show people to not be afraid of what you like,” Crawford said. “I learned from my family and from myself that it doesn’t matter what you like, what matters is if you put effort into your work.”
