The juried show, supported by the DCCC Foundation, includes a variety of drawings as well as paintings rendered in oil, acrylic and watercolor that will be on display during regular business hours until Aug. 2.

“This is our most ambitious show to date with several large-scale pieces and many self-portraits by the students,” said Carl Shatley, DCCC's curriculum art instructor.

The piece of art chosen to appear on a printed DCCC postcard to publicize the exhibit is titled “Staircase” by Kasey Newark of Davie County, which won first place in the show. After completing six semesters of art instruction, she plans to transfer to Appalachian State University and hopes to become an elementary school art teacher.

Melissa Asher, a 2011 DCCC graduate who is transferring to Greensboro College this fall and plans to become an art educator, said this is the third student show at DCCC in which she has had her work exhibited. She has several acrylics and watercolors in the exhibit she painted as part of the art curriculum, which includes hands-on studio painting in the Thomasville Education Center on Randolph Street.

“I liked the hands-on environment — you don't learn it unless you do it,” Asher said, noting Shatley is not easy on students but motivates them to excel.

“He's been the driving force behind the whole art program,” she noted.