The opening reception is today for an exhibition at North Kingstown High School that features the artwork of six Jamestown students.

The reception for “Entangled Limelight” will be from 5-6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at Gallery North, 150 Fairway Drive. Admission is free. This is the only time the exhibition is open to the public.

Janice Strain, a visual arts teacher who curates the gallery, said the exhibition is a way for the public to recognize the talent and dedication of the teenagers on display.

“We also hope that the artwork in Gallery North gives visitors appreciation for the arts and a time for reflection and solace when viewing the work,” Strain said.

There are 60 pieces in the show, including paintings, drawings, 3-D sculptures, fashion design and ceramics. All the pieces were created in the high school’s art classes.

Gallery North, which features 29 glass frames and pedestals, was established at the high school in 2018. It is a 700-square-foot space inside the cafeteria on the building’s ground floor. Called “a dedicated, elegant, upscale illuminated space,” North Kingstown is the only public high school in Rhode Island to feature such a gallery.

The gallery features exhibitions of student artwork every two months. While past shows have featured themes, students were given free rein for “Entangled Limelight.” One of the Jamestown students whose work is featured is junior Jamie Tamboe. She said her acrylic painting “Queen Midas” depicts a woman standing in perspective. It was created by Tamboe in her AP art class and was not originally intended for the show. Instead, Tamboe said the painting was originally a backup she was considering for her college portfolio. Her teacher, however, choice the piece for the show.

Tamboe said she made “Queen Midas” by combining reference photos and trying to piece them together on her canvas. It includes her first using oil paints as she normally works entirely with acrylics.

“I made it by combining several reference pictures I found online and trying to piece them together,” she said. “Usually, the outcome of the pieces is better when you use a solid reference picture, but because I combined so many little images and experimented without a defined outline, it didn’t end up looking the way I wanted it.”

While the piece is not one of Tamboe’s favorites, she wasn’t overly disappointed.

“I’m satisfied with it, seeing as it’s an example of my first ever time working with a new perspective and a new medium,” she said.

As for gallery, Tamboe said it gives students the opportunity to celebrate the work of their classmates.

“I think I like most that young artists, or those who don’t see art as a strength of theirs, get to see their work in a bigger setting,” she said. “I think it gives kids a bit of confidence. It helps them showcase what they didn’t know they have.”

Tamboe said it also highlights the teachers.

“I’m glad that students, staff and N.K. members get to see our work and what our art teachers strive to put out there, which is an awareness for art in students and our community,” she said.

Sophomore Jade Infantolino created a hollow ceramic puffer fish that appears in the show.

The Jamestown teen is looking forward to seeing her parents’ reaction to her sculpture.

“My parents have only seen pictures and I’d like to see their in-person reaction to it,” she said. “I’m not in class with most of the people shown in the show, so it will be cool to look at everyone’s art that I don’t get to see in class.”

According to Strain, every piece of artwork in the show was created to align to the National Core Arts Standards for Visual Art and Design.

Other pieces created by Jamestown students include Sophia Iavovelli watercolor portrait “Jade Ordinance,” Cordelia Thomas’ acrylic painting on wood titled “Expedient Dilation,” Makenzie Moriarty’s surreal collage landscape and Matthew Cotter’s colored pencil drawing of a fallen soldier.