The 2025 District Art show kicked off on April 29th at Adams City High School. This year, over 25 student art pieces were accepted - the most artworks we've EVER had in the exhibition!

7th grade student Melanie E. took home a 1st Place ribbon for her colored pencil rendering of gummy bears while 2nd place for Kearney went to 7th grader Dilein D. for her chromatic portrait of Billie Eilish. 8th grader Naiomy L. also earned an honorable mention for her graphite drawing of her dog!

With over 500 students throughout the year, narrowing down each artist's work to be selected for this exhibition can be tricky. Student artwork is chosen not only for showcasing technical excellence but also for exhibiting knowledge of composition, craftsmanship, and concept. 

Congratulations to ALL artists in Studio 4 who were a part of this prestigeous event! The 2025 District Art Exhibition runs through May 2nd at Adams City High School. 

For the second year in a row, Advanced Art students in both 7th and 8th grade began a collaboration with young artists at Central Elementary. Kindergarten students in Ms. Ciccone's art class created drawings of creatures that they imagined "discovering" on their way to school. 

Ms. Ciccone delivered the drawings to our middle school artists. Students in Studio 4 are using these designs as blueprints to create a real-life 3-dimensional plushy to be delivered to the Kindergarteners later this Spring. The drawings vary widely - some look like animals, others are colorful and full of scribbles... some even have names like Dozo and Gurn! Advanced Artists are already discovering how to create solutions in making these creatures come to life in a way that honors the original artist. 

Check back to see what they come up with and for updates on our special delivery day! 

Our Life Skills class took a special trip organized by Mr. Finamore to the Denver Art Museum to see the exhibition, Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak. Students viewed over 400 artworks by the famous children's author/illustrator, including all of the original artwork for Sendak's most famous book, Where the Wild Things Are. In addition, students had the opportunity to view other pieces from Sendak's publications including illustrations from Little Bear, In the Night Kitchen, and, Higglety, Pigglety, Pop! 

To plan for the trip, students read books by Sendak and created Wild Things in art class. With the help of our paraprofessionals, our nonverbal students were able to add an entire page of Sendak-related vocabulary to their speaking devices, which they used to communicate throughout the exhibition. 

Following the art museum, our group hopped on over to Mad Greens to enjoy a healthy lunch before returning to school. 

After helping to provide STEAM learning equipment to Studio 4 last February, the good folks at Optiv decided they wanted to do even more to support our students. Over the past year, Optiv worked with their partners throughout the Denver Metro area to provide a laptop computer to every single student at KMS. On January 16th, 2025, that dream became a reality. Students received state-of-the-art computers and had the opportunity to set up their devices and learn about online safety with the help of Optiv volunteers. 

For many of our students, this donation is likely the first computer they will bring home and, let's face it, the first time that majority of our kids get their hands on something other than a Chromebook. 

Optiv also stopped by Studio 4 to get an update on how our STEAM equipment and chat with Mr. Finamore about how this technology has enhanced learning in the classroom.

Art Club took a day trip to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge to learn more about the space and tour the site which our art commission will reside. 

We started off the morning in the auditorium where Urban Park Ranger, Isis Rivera, introduced us to the Arsenal and its mission. Students watched a video presentation and then were treated to a hands-on workshop getting up-close and personal with animal bones, hides, and feathers. We learned of the story of the Arsenal's transformation from a chemical weapons manufacturing facility to one of the largest urban wildlife refuges in the country. Students then had the opportunity to explore the exhibition hall to discover even more about the space's history. 

One of the highlights of our trip was getting the opportunity to watch a live feeding with the refuge's two highly-endangered black footed ferrets. Having retired from their breeding program, these animals are on permanent exhibition at the Arsenal and mark a significant beacon of hope toward the Refuge's future in conservation.

After taking a pizza break outside, Art Club students hopped in cars and took a tour of the wildlife drive. We spent time observing the bison herds that call the Refuge home as well as spotted mule deer, hawks, and even a coyote. Isis was able to distribute binoculars to students prior to the tour, so many of the animals felt extremely close! 

Finally, we visited the sheds where our project will eventually reside next to Lake Mary. Mr. Finamore led a discussion about the importance of site-specific artwork and we brainstormed some additional plans for the commission during the trip. 

In 2021, Art Club was commissioned by the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge to complete an art installation on two sheds near Lake Mary. While the initial concept was to paint a mural, the idea eventually evolved into a much bigger endeavor. 

Over the course of the 2021-2022 school year, Art Club students worked closely with staff from the Arsenal to develop plans for this permanent art installation.

The artwork will feature a range of wildlife seen at the Arsenal and showcase the diversity of species that call the space home. Each animal will be cut at life-scale out of plywood with the help of jigsaws and laser cutters. Inspired by the work of Denver artist, Dolan Geiman, details of the animals will be made with collaged pages from vintage magazines and sealed permanently with epoxy resin to make them weather-resistant. Installation is set to occur sometime in the coming year.

In addition to providing supplies for the project to get underway, the Arsenal also partnered with the non-profit, Friends of the Front Range Wildlife Refuge, to obtain a $2,500 grant through the Quality Community Foundation. The grant not only funds weekly snacks and field trips but also provides funding for students in High School (now alums of Studio 4) to be hired and paid as ongoing team members of the project.

Studio 4 has officially been upgraded in to the 21st century! Thanks to our friends at Optiv, our tech equipment has been delivered to KMS and students in Studio 4 are getting opportunities to test out this awesome machinery. 

In addition to providing a class set of iPads, a LulzBot 3D printer, and Lego Education SPIKE kits, the highlight of the delivery was the OmTech CO2 Laser Cutter. The machine has the ability to cut through wood, glass, metal, and even stone. The donation opens up a whole new way for Studio 4 artists to explore creating and constructing. Soon, students will be able to design objects digitally on iPads and send the data directly to the laser cutter to bring their visions to life. 

This donation was provided through a partnership with Optiv Chips In and the Mile High United Way. You can read more about our ongoing partnership with Optiv by visiting the About section on our website! 

After nearly a year of planning, the Optiv team came through to give Studio 4 and KMS a much needed facelift. 

The day started at 7AM with a truck delivery complete with over a dozen sets of new office equipment including mechanical raise/lower desks, storage systems, and personal filing cabinets. The team worked quickly to upgrade our main office space with this new furniture and completed the project in under two hours just in time for students to arrive! The upgrade gives our office a modern facelift with matching furniture and creates an aesthetically-pleasing space to welcome families and visitors. The team at Optiv also generously upgraded Mr. Finamore's workspace as well. 

After work on the main office was finalized, the Optiv Team moved on to Studio 4 where they completed renovations to improve our classroom workspace. Volunteers removed old, delapitated bulletin boards, repaired and painted wooden cabinets, refurbished storage shelves, patched holes, and painted walls. In addition, the team removed old classroom furniture and replaced them with newly-assembled epoxy-resin art tables. 

You can read more about our partnership with the team at Optiv by visiting the About page on our website! 

Students in Mr. Finamore’s art class have been working hard on an amazing opportunity that blends both science and art from two graduate students at CU Boulder. 

Dennis Doyle (MFA Sculpture) and Bri Dobson (PhD Atmospheric Chemistry) are collaborating on a sculpture that will be displayed at KMS for two weeks. The installation will house an instrument that will measure nanoparticles in the air and provide data to the Kearney community to help gain insight on neighborhood air quality. Students in Studio 4 are working directly with Dennis and Bri to build fabric patches that will adorn the sculpture. Each patch will include a set of colored glass beads that represent the air quality readings around the area from the year before. When finished, the sculpture will be part of a published research paper focusing on the ways in which small-scale instruments can be effective in providing transparency about air quality in communities around the state. Some student samples from this project will also be exhibited at the state capital next summer!

Students in Studio 4 once again took part in the Student Art Buying Program at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. While the COVID19 pandemic certainly put a damper on the traditional experience, students were still able to participate in the program virtually and get the opportunity to select artists through Zoom. This year, students selected to commission a piece by award-winning pastel artist, Deana Goldsmith, known for her intricate chalk pastel drawings featuring birds and objects drawn from life (a process known as "still life" drawing). 

First, students met with Deana to ask questions about her process and get a virtual tour of her studio. She showed off her collection of vintage books and objects that she uses in her still life setups as well as spoke to students about how she turned art from a hobby into a full-time career despite not having any formal art training.

Then, students got to choose how they wanted our artwork to look. They selected books and colors representing KMS and chose the vintage camera that they wanted in the composition. Finally, the group selected a Yellow Warbler as the focal point of the artwork - a bird that is a frequent visitor of the Colorado Front Range and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. 

In September, Studio 4 students had the opportunity to meet Deana in person and receive their commission. The artwork is a permanent fixture on our Studio 4 walls. 

For the second year in a row, KMS participated in the Cherry Creek Arts Festival's Student Art Buying Program. Despite the challenges brought to the world through COVID 19, the ability to video conference allowed KMS students to have virtual access to artists' studios, which provided new opportunities to connect with nationally-renowned creators. This year, our group selected to work with award-winning printmaker John Costin. Costin is known for his intricate prints of birds which are made using a process called Copperplate etching by which ink is applied to a scratched metal surface and rolled through a press. The process allows for artists to make multiple copies of detailed images made by hand. Costin is one of the world's leading printmakers and his work has been compared to that of John James Audubon. 

Students selected two prints from his collection of copperplate etchings - Tricolor Heron Vista and Blue Hawaii. 

The Mobile Art Gallery paid a visit to Kearney in February of 2020 and was granted to KMS free of charge courtesy of the Cherry Creek Arts Festival and Janus Henderson. The gallery was put up in our Media Center and was on display for three weeks, showcasing original works of art from nationally-recognized artists, including 3 pieces that were hand-selected by KMS students earlier in the summer. 

A handful of Studio 4 artists were chosen to be docents for the tour, and were specially trained by CCAF staff to give tours to visitors in the exhibition including staff, and our Parent-Teacher Association. 

In September of 2019, Studio 4 played host to visiting artist, Tom Mazzullo. Tom is an artist working in the ancient Renaissance drawing medium of Silverpoint. Tom gave an artist talk to students and showcased some of the techniques used to achieve this unique style of art. 

Silverpoint is a technique that was used by master artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo Da Vinci. It involves drawing with a sharpened silver rod onto prepared paper. Since silver and other metals oxidize when exposed to air, these drawings "age" and change colors over time. This type of drawing can be done with any type of precious metal including copper and gold! 

Tom Mazzullo was actually a professor of Mr. Finamore's and introduced him to drawing within museum collections! They have both exhibited art together before! You can check out Tom Mazzullo's artwork here.