Parents, siblings, and friends visiting Reed Intermediate School (RIS) the evening of March 22 were greeted by the sight of more than 2,000 works of art in the front hall areas of the Trades Lane school.

The school's art teachers had spent hours putting the works on view, filling the walls of the main lobby as well as a set of side hallways off the main lobby so that guests would be wowed with the presentation of pieces that had been created by fifth and sixth grade students since the beginning of the school year. Every RIS student, according to District Director of Visual and Performing Arts Michelle Hiscavich, had work featured in the show.

Collections of works had been grouped together: relief sculpture sun designs by sixth grade students who had studied the suns of ancient cultures, oil pastel pieces by fifth grade students who had studied Wayne Thiebaud and the American artist's penchant for colorful works that depicted commonplace items (like desserts, which were presented in the RIS collection), watercolors in the style of John James Audubon and Winslow Homer by fifth grade students, and stained glass-style pieces done on graph paper by sixth graders after studying Louis Tiffany and others who designed such works during the Victorian era.

Those stopping in, or even walking through, the lobby were treated to performance art. The RIS Chamber Orchestra performed for much of the evening, opening with "The Star-Spangled Banner." The young musicians were conducted alternately by Mardi Smith and Jill Marak, as parents and siblings looked on approvingly.

As if there were not enough pieces of work already on view, parents and their children were invited to participate in a mural project on Art Night.

The school's cafetorium was bustling with activity, as families waited their turn to take a seat at one of the lunch tables that had been set up for the evening. Joanne and Bruce Hunter, co-founders of The Art Spot, a fine arts school that also works with groups to create murals, had been enlisted to work with families that evening to create aluminum leaves that will eventually become part of a mural mounted on the walls within RIS.

Under the direction of the Hunters, students and parents used the repoussé method to design and decorate individual leaves that will be assembled onto a vine for the mural. Ms Hiscavich said RIS staff would also be making leaves for the project.

Ms Hiscavich and RIS art teachers Angela Cheninsky and Michelle Ginand were all on hand that Wednesday evening, greeting guests and helping artists locate their works.