By John Chambless
Staff Writer

When it comes to attendance, the annual Student Art Show at the Oxford Arts Alliance draws a big crowd of appreciative family members and young artists who are eager to show their work hanging on a gallery wall.

The art ranges from class assignments that have a certain similiarity to works that show dazzling promise. The young artists from Jordan Bank Elementary have a lot of spirit, perhaps best reflected in the frolicking, somersaulting giraffes by Colbie Pyle and Michael Shaw.

Sacred Heart School is represented by imaginative sculptures made up of boxes that you can turn to make mix-and-match characters or portraits. It's a clever idea that gets a variety of students involved.

Sacred Heart's collage works are highlighted by seventh grader Jessica Sitlinger, whose horse painted paper collage has a lot of character.

Students from the Oxford Arts Alliance Academy of Art are represented by a nice cross-section of works, highlighted by eighth grader John Walker, whose still life of fruit shows some definite skill with rendering surfaces and sheen.

Home schooler Victoria D'Ascenzo goes for tiny details in “Country Living,” her pen-and-ink of a cabin. She gets extra points for her fine depiction of clouds, which are very nicely done.

Oxford High School's Allison Smoker gets a great winter sky in her snow scene, with the hazy half-light rendered just right. There are some fine pencil portraits as well, partiularly those by Jozalyn Mitchell and Mikaela Hall.

Nottingham Elementary has several weavings that have intriguing textures and patterns, and Penn's Grove Middle School student Charlotte Weir has a very striking pencil portrait that beckons you from across the gallery. It's a definite high point of the show.

The 10th Annual Student Show has a closing reception on June 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. The Oxford Arts Alliance is at 38 S. Third St., Oxford. For more information, visit www.oxfordart.org.