BY KAREN BOSSICK

Camila Vega’s “Synaptic Sparks,” which includes electrical wire on canvas, pays homage to the work that electricians and other blue-collar workers do. Brooke Vagias “liberated” the jawbones of an elk she found in sagebrush and turned it into a giant dream catcher.

Marlowe Bradley weaved a large white cotton rope together with wood and recycled furniture legs to represent the interconnectedness of the Wood River community and the neuropathways that are knit together. And Lauryn Stevens created artwork out of prayer flags to capture the life of Dr. Terry O’Connor who died in an avalanche while skiing in the Lost River Range near Mackay in 2024.

These art pieces are among 60 works by student artists in the Wood River Valley that are being featured in a very brief pop-up Student Art Exhibition at the Sun Valley Museum of Art.

5B Creative: Student Art Exhibition can be seen from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today—Saturday, Nov. 15—before it is taken down to make way for The Museum’s next exhibition. And it’s definitely worth taking the time to see how creative the valley’s Wood River High, Sage School and Sun Valley Community School students are.

The SVMoA’s high school interns—Sara Desaulnier, Monique “Moxxie” Tellez, Marian Stacey and Brooke Vagias--helped organize the exhibition. The show is the Museum’s first student show in more than 20 years, and it came together in two weeks, said Ava Scanlan, marketing and communications director for SVMoA.

The exhibition even includes a wall-to-ceiling piece made with repurposed acrylic latex paint and theater canvas  that Jackson Flynn and his students at the Sun Valley Community School that was influenced by the work of Jackson Pollock and the jazz music of the Abstract Expressionism movement.

The exhibition is organized around six themes: Who We Are, What We See, what We Inhabit, Who We Are With, What We Feel and What We Eat.

“5B Creative is such a powerful reflection of what happens when imagination and mentorship meet,” said Dianne Sanchez, director of Learning and Engagement at SVMoA. “The work you see here showcases the incredible talent of our valley’s students and the art teachers who inspire them to look closer, think differently, and create bravely. This exhibition celebrates not just individual artistry, but the shared creativity that connects us all between self and place, between student and teacher, between art and community.”

SVMoA’s next exhibition--HIDDEN GEMS: Idaho Collects--will open on Friday, Nov. 21, and will run through Feb. 28. It features artworks drawn from private collections in the Wood River Valley and Boise, including works by internationally known artists.

The Museum is located at 191 Fifth Steet East in Ketchum. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free.