CHADRON — Paintings and drawings by about 30 Chadron High School students will be on display in an exhibit titled Get Your Kicks in 2026 now through May 8 at Chadron State College’s Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Chadron High art teacher Crystal Bach said she is proud of the students’ creativity and growth.

“It has been exciting to see their creativity and the growth they’ve shown in their artistic abilities,” Bach said. “We invite the community to come experience the work our students have been creating. I really appreciate CSC’s support.”

Bach said students are eager to share their work.

“We hope it will continue to grow and become a more permanent display as students produce new artwork,” she said.

Tatianna Obando said she enjoys painting or drawing scenes from movies, flowers, and animals. She works with acrylic, watercolor, and paint markers. “I love painting because it is exciting when everything starts to layer and build,” she said. “The most challenging part is trying to perfect it at the end. If it isn’t how I imagined, I keep adding to it until I am satisfied.”

Obando said she hopes viewers feel inspired to express their own creativity.

“My advice is to be creative and original,” she said. “It is easy to copy someone else’s art, but it is more rewarding when you create your own.”

Karsen Stokely said she chose bears as a subject because she finds them fascinating.

“The creation of art is a driving factor for the soul,” she said. “If there is even a hint of passion, chase it. It is always better to grow and change than let talent go to waste.”

Graphic design students attend conference in Omaha

CHADRON — Art Professor Mary Donahue and three students from Chadron State College attended the Meet the Pros conference in Omaha March 25-28.

Donahue said the CSC cohort, which included Amanda Kittell, Saul Reyes, and Kasiah Sayaloune, met with CSC alum Troi Arnold, a graphic designer at The Durham Museum. The museum hosts a broad range of traveling exhibits and is housed in a restored Art Deco building constructed in 1929 as Union Station, which served rail passengers from the 1930s to the 1970s.

During the conference, the group also toured LinkedIn headquarters, the Joslyn Art Museum, and Hot Shops Art Center, a large artist collective.

Kittell of Chadron, a studio art major who plans to graduate in spring 2028, said the conference provided valuable insight into the graphic design profession.

“This conference was a great opportunity to learn what a graphic design job entails,” Kittell said. “I gained insight into the interview process, different career paths and what working in the field looks like through hands-on experience, including a group project creating a creative brief for the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo.”

She said many presenters shared QR codes so students could connect with them on LinkedIn, and Hurrdat Sports invited attendees to tour its office.

“My takeaways include how to effectively collaborate on group projects and develop unique solutions,” Kittell said.

Reyes of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, a graphic design major who plans to graduate in 2027, said the conference offered a closer look at how professional designers operate their businesses.

“Hurrdat was a particularly interesting business with different segments, especially its sports media group,” Reyes said. “One lesson I took away is that if you don’t enjoy the subject you’re creating content for, it will show in your work.”

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