The Winter Garden of Youth K-12 Art Exhibit opened Friday evening in downtown Aurora, featuring the work of more than 170 students representing 38 local schools.
Teresa Flores of Aurora and her third-grade daughter Kalila, 9, were at opening night of the annual exhibit at the David L. Pierce Art and History Center, 20 E. Downer Place.
“My daughter has a piece of her artwork here and I’m proud. Her art was chosen from her art class at school,” Flores said. “I love it and all four of my girls like to do art. It’s a really proud moment and a beautiful thing to see that they have all this amazing work here from the schools. To see the kids express themselves in this format is amazing.”
Jon Zaghloul, communications manager for the city of Aurora, said the event has enjoyed great traction, calling it “one of the most popular exhibits each year for Aurora Public Art.”
“We’re able to showcase these great artistic talents from a bunch of students and ages and school district partners,” he said just before Friday’s opening. “It’s a cool way to bring the community together and celebrate our youth and their artistic talents.”
Curator Sangeeta Pande said submissions range anywhere from 100 to 200 each year and that students continue to want to show off their work, “because it’s a really interesting platform for the children to be able to showcase their works and have that pride in the selection process.”
Pande said for the first time there were submissions from the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora that “were very much catering towards engineering and the sciences.”
“You can see a distinct shift in the way their perception of art is as opposed to the normal perception of art,” she said.
Visitors enter the David L. Pierce Art and History Center in downtown Aurora on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, where an exhibit of student artwork opened. The exhibit will run through Jan. 17. (David Sharos/For The Beacon-News)
Pande said she put herself into a full-blown recruiting effort this year, making sure every public and private school was aware of the exhibit.
“I took it upon myself to approach every school and say here, this is going on, please give this information to the art teacher,” she said.
Cecilia Zepeda of Aurora on Friday said showcasing youngsters’ artwork is important.
“Absolutely, yes, it’s wonderful. I remember when I was a student I was in the arts and it’s really nice seeing all these little budding artists and parents who are super proud of what they do,” she said while visiting the exhibit. “It’s important that their work gets shown.”
Lauren Hansford of Aurora, who teaches at Rosary College Prep, said that four of her students have their work on display as part of the exhibit and that “three had done it before.”
Rosary College Prep instructor Lauren Hansford of Aurora stands in front of the artwork produced by four of her students at the Winter Garden of Youth K-12 Art Exhibit which opened Friday evening at the David L. Pierce Art and History Center in downtown Aurora. (David Sharos/For The Beacon-News)
“They were very eager (to show their work) and this platform is really special,” she said. “I grew up in Aurora and I was in this show when I was a student at Rosary and I think it’s a good time to show the kids that their work is supposed to be elevated. It’s supposed to be shown.”
The exhibit runs through Jan. 17 at the Art and History Center. Gallery hours are from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
