PHOTO GALLERY: Once again it’s Durham’s finest

The time has come for the Bull City's finest youngsters to flaunt their art – and what better location than at N.C. Central University.

The NCCU Art Museum starts the year with kiddie joy, showcasing the work of Durham's elite young artists, in an exhibit called "Durham's Finest."

The annual exhibit showcases eclectic, the reflective, the playful and the downright crafty, art of K-12 students from Durham schools.

"Durham's Finest" has been exhibiting at NCCU for more than 30 years.

"Each school screens the work themselves and selected four works," said Kenneth Rodgers, director of the NCCU Art Museum.

In all, 45 schools participated and some 180 works of art were reviewed.

According to Rodgers, this year's submissions have taken a new direction.

"This year we have fewer three-dimensional pieces. Of the three-dimensional piece that we have, they are outstanding examples," said Rodgers.

Rodgers said this exhibit includes more photography from area high schools than previously.

"This year at the elementary level, we had a second grader whose natural design instincts were far beyond her years," said Rodgers.

"She demonstrated something that clearly one cannot teach. She had an ability with color and the manipulation of textures that was simply off the charts."

The middle school winner, Itzel Castro, a seventh grader from Chewning Middle School, used watercolors to create "Sublime Transformations," which depicts a girl sitting on a green mountain, greeted by a black bird on her knee as her hair blows in the wind.

The high school winner "Father & Son," by Durham School of Arts 10th grader Courtney Jacobs, struck all with her mind tricking work. The piece uses pencil strokes so smooth, it can easily be mistaken for a snapshot.

"She elected to do what I would call a double portrait of her father and his off string. It has a photographic quality," said Rodgers. "Again, those are qualities that one can certainly not teach."

"As I think about that piece, it clearly shows that that bond between a father and son is unshakable. That's not an easy thing to do, especially with the medium of a pencil."

Get the experience for yourself. The NCCU Art Museum is open Tuesday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

"Every kid should have the opportunity to express themselves. The creative impulse is something that is beneath, is something that everyone has. When encouraged, we never know how high an individual can reach."

We also have more photography from the high schools this year. In the past they tend to be paintings."

Some pieces left some at awe, representing a true artistic blessing at hand.

"This year at the elementary level, we had a second grader whose natural design instincts were far beyond her years," said Rodgers.

"She demonstrated something that clearly one cannot teach. She had an inability with color and the manipulation of textures that was simply off the charts."

The middle school winner, Itzel Castro, a seventh grader from Chewning Middle School, used watercolors as her medium to create "Sublime Transformations," a painting of a girl sitting on a green mountain, greeted by a black bird on her knee as her hair blows in the wind.

The high school winner "Father & Son," by Durham School of Arts 10th grader Courtney Jacobs, struck all with her mind tricking work. The piece uses pencil strokes so smooth, it can easily be mistaken for a snapshot.

"She elected to do what I would call a double portrait of her father and his off string. It has a photographic quality," said Rodgers. "Again, those are qualities that one can certainly not teach."

"As I think about that piece, it clearly shows that that bond between a father and son is unshakable. That's not an easy thing to do, especially with the medium of a pencil."

Get the experience for yourself. The NCCU Art Museum is open Tuesday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

"Every kid should have the opportunity to express themselves. The creative impulse is something that is beneath, is something that everyone has. When encouraged, we never know how high an individual can reach."