Students will get a real-life venue to show off their works of art in the community this weekend.

Austin Public Schools has teamed up with the Austin ArtWorks Center for Youth Art Month. The first- through eighth-grade Youth Art Show will be on display at the ArtWorks Center from this Friday through Saturday, April 2. The show opening will be held Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. and will feature music from Ellis art teacher Jesse Smith and refreshments courtesy of Superfresh.

This is the first time that Smith knows of the district partnering with an outside source to show off student work in a public setting.

“I think the ArtWorks Center wants to build good relationships within the community,” Smith wrote in an email.

“We are grateful they are having this Youth Art Show for us and I think that it is a great way to give kids the experience of displaying their work in a public place,” he went on to say. “Often kids hear praise from parents, teachers, grandparents, and that is all well and good but it is nice to hear these things from the general public as well.”

Smith explained the experience allows students to understand and contemplate what is involved with the entire process of hanging and displaying their work in a public place. Smith, along with the other art teacher at Ellis Middle School Ginesa Klocke, have encouraged students to bring work in and have hung it at the ArtWorks Center.

Smith hopes viewers will stop and think about the art they are looking at, not just that it was created by students, but because it was created by students.

“It is nice when talent is recognized but when students create artwork at the middle school level, their work at times communicates ideas based on the child’s own reality,” Smith said. “This is the society we all live in but at times it is difficult to see or understand another person’s perspective. I hope folks walk away with a better understanding of what it is like for children to grow up in today’s society. I encourage viewers to look at the work with an open mind. I hope they gain an appreciation for not only what our children communicate but I also hope they strive to recognize why kids choose the words and images they do to establish these ideas and thoughts.”

The Austin ArtWorks Center, at 300 N. Main St., is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday though Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.