Michigan Art Education Association K-12 art exhibition to open at Hickman Gallery
Posted Friday, March 14, 2025
Author: Mickey Alvarado
For the first time, Adrian College’s Hickman Gallery will feature a statewide Michigan Art Education Association (MAEA) K-12 student art exhibition, beginning Monday, March 17. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
A reception will be held on the final day of the exhibition, Saturday, April 5, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., where Jane Montero, president of the MAEA, will speak.
The exhibition will feature approximately 300 works of art by students from public K-12 institutions across Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula. Artwork is first displayed at the local level in one of the state’s 18 regions. No more than 25 percent of the pieces shown at the regional level were sent to the state level for adjudication. This year, 786 pieces were submitted for state adjudication, with the top 300 selected for display at the Hickman Gallery.
“It’s going to be salon style installation with art pretty much covering the gallery walls from top to bottom,” said Travis Erxleben, Adrian College assistant professor of art, chair of the Department of Art and Design, director of the Adrian College Institute for Innovation and Creativity, and director of the Hickman Gallery. “It will be the largest display of work that we’ve ever shown at Adrian College.”
Erxleben anticipates a large turnout for the reception, particularly from Southeast Michigan.
“We’re planning for approximately 150 attendees at the reception, but hope to have even more,” Erxleben said. “It’s a great opportunity for Adrian College to engage with prospective students and showcase the institution’s commitment to the arts.”
Annie Howard, an art teacher at Adrian High School, has advocated for hosting the event at Adrian College for several years. She is a member of the MAEA executive board.
“She is just awesome,” Erxleben said. “She’s a powerhouse, and one of those people who everybody in the community absolutely loves.”
“Being a part of MAEA has fueled my passion for teaching art over two decades,” said Howard (AC Class of ‘03). “My students’ work being showcased at the state level is such a tremendous honor, and it circles back to my education and experience at Adrian College… It is quite an exciting feeling to have my students beginning their college careers in the very places that I loved so much as a Bulldog.”
To be included in the exhibition, Michigan students first had to advance through regional competitions before being selected for the state show. Each division — elementary, middle, and secondary — had judges at every level. The judges included practicing artists, retired art teachers, graphic designers, and college art professionals.
The Secondary Top 18, top-selected pieces from each region, plus an additional 12 works, regardless of region, are featured in the Governor’s Traveling Show. The selected pieces are professionally framed and displayed throughout the state for a year.
For more information about the MAEA exhibition, contact Erxleben at terxleben@adrian.edu.
