The noise level inside the front lobby and library area of Head O' Meadow Elementary School gradually increased round 5:30 last Monday evening, as students returned to their school for an annual rite of spring.

"Head O' Meadow School of Art: gallery 2017, an elementary celebration" was presented May 22. While the weather outside continued to be dreary and wet, students proudly pulled parents and grandparents by their hands, eagerly pointing out art that had been crafted during the current school year.

Three walls on the perimeter of the library were loaded with creative works, while a fourth wall, with an inset case area, featured projects by third and fourth grade students.

Donna Perugini, Head O' Meadow's art teacher, had begun hanging the show two weeks before the special event.

"I always start at least two weeks before our show," she said. "And there are 342 works on view, one for each student in school."

The work she did with students since September paid off Monday night, as exclamations of "gorgeous!" and "how clever" were heard repeatedly, as was the compliment "Very innovative" by one proud grandparent.

Among the collections presented were Dancing Apples & Color Mixing, the results of kindergartners exploring "the wonderful world of color and color mixing," according to notes posted with the brightly hued paper works decorated with crayons and watercolors.

First grade students were represented by ambitious works, including African elephant portraits, still life with fruits inspired by Cezanne, and artist alphabets.

While rainy days may not sound cheerful, second grade students actually created very colorful works after studying the properties of the color wheel. Oil pastels created the background of a rainy day portrait, and permanent markers and watercolor paints were used to color each of six panels on an oversized umbrella being held by a figure in their works. When assembled together, the collection was surprisingly bright and cheerful.

The next section of works along the library's walls highlighted the talents of this year's third grade class. The "Crows in Wheatfield" unit, Ms Perugini's exhibition notes explained, "was all about the style of the artist, technique, brushstroke, dry brush and mixing colors right onto the canvas."

The third grade students were also represented with a collection of paper plate circular weavings, which were coupled with paper sculpture orbs by fourth graders within the earlier mentioned inset case.

Fourth graders also spent time this year painting desert skies in red or orange, crafting papier decoupage pieces inspired by the work of Henri Matisse, and creating their versions of ancient Egyptian sarcophagi.