A showcase of the talents of students from 20 local primary and secondary schools drew crowds to an annual exhibition held at the weekend.

Now in its third year, the Schools Art Exhibition was held on Saturday and Sunday at the Samuel Ryder Academy in St Albans.

Schools were asked to submit two pieces of art with the choice of work being left to the discretion of the respective art teachers/co-ordinators. Traditionally, secondary schools have provided pieces of individual artwork and the primary schools have provided whole class or art group pieces – although this year there were some individual pieces from primary students.

One of the pieces on display from Samuel Ryder was a Big Draw collaborative spaceship which includes work from the academy’s staff and students as well as drawings from pupils at London Colney Primary School who spent an afternoon in the academy’s art department.

Among the comments in the visitors’ book were “Impressed by not only the variety of the work but also the high quality” and “Fantastic display of superb work”.

A private viewing was held last Friday evening attended by the Mayor of St Albans, Cllr Annie Brewster, and staff and governors from the schools that participated in the exhibition.

It was co-ordinated by local artist and Samuel Ryder art technician, Karole Lange, and the works on display were curated by Katharina Kubrick of Childwickbury Arts.

Karole commented: “This is our third exhibition, with over 20 local schools taking part. This year it attracted even more visitors who were all genuinely impressed by the standard of work on display.

“I feel privileged to be able give talented art students the opportunity for their work to be seen by a wider audience and I am grateful to Samuel Ryder Academy for allowing that to happen.”

The Mayor said: “Art is one of my first loves and I am so delighted to see the immense talent in our district so beautifully displayed here. A number of these artists will be the ones to watch and, who knows, some might eventually hold their own solo shows once our new art gallery is opened in the Town Hall in the centre of the city.”