The Longwood Center for the Visual Arts is proud to present Start with Art, Learn for Life, the Annual Area Youth Art Exhibition. This year's display consists of over 400 works of art by students in grades K-12 from schools within a nine-county region. Art teachers contributed their students' works from public, private, and home schools in the counties of Amelia, Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Lunenburg, Nottoway, Powhatan, and Prince Edward. On Sunday, March 24, the LCVA will host an opening reception from 2-4 p.m. Free and open to the public, the reception and exhibition are made possible by generous support from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. The works will remain on view through April 21 in the Lower Level Gallery at LCVA.

The Main Street Gallery will feature Vincent Van Gogh: Sunflower Days, Starry Nights. The installation is comprised of works created with temper paint, paper, plates, glue, tissue paper, fabric, sticks, and wood. All students from Prince Edward Elementary School in grades Pre-K through fourth grade contributed to the project, which was coordinated by art teachers Joy Utzinger and Carol Edmonson (Longwood '82).

This is the thirteenth year the LCVA has sponsored the Annual Area Youth Art Exhibition. The following teachers have assisted by preparing and submitting their students' work for the 2013 exhibition: Jennifer Abruzzo (Buckingham County High School), Jenifer Ashby (Powhatan Junior High School), Gayle Bromer (Buckingham County Middle School), Loretta Cencia (Prince Edward County High School), Kathryn Clarke (Bacon District Elementary School and Phenix Elementary School), Lisa Conner (Pocahontas Elementary School), Kim Dalton (Pocahontas Middle School), Laura Dedmond '08, (Buckingham County Elementary School), Cassie Duarte, Central High School, Carol Edmonson '82, (Prince Edward County Elementary School), Monica Evans (Appomattox County Middle School), Jessi Fleisher '04 (Lunenburg Middle School), Deborah Wilkinson Ford '76 (Amelia County High School), Vicki Fulcher (New Life Christian Academy and New Life Learning Center), David Hennessey '12 (Prince Edward County Middle School, Patricia Herring '80 (Nottoway Middle School), Helen Hertzler (Five County Home School), Lindsay Hosmer '08 (Eureka Elementary School and Thomas Jefferson Center), Kristin Jackson (Crewe Primary School and Burkeville Elementary School), Faith A. Jones (Appomattox County High School), Ronda Jones '78(Cumberland Middle School), Jean Kunath (Central High School), Jennifer Logan (Central Virginia Christian School), Amy McManus (Powhatan High School), Rose Mezzatesta (Buckingham County Primary School), Marley Midkiff (Nottoway Intermediate School), Alyson Napier (Nottoway High School), Emily Overstreet '06 (Cumberland Elementary School), Denise Penick '73 (Fuqua School), Connie Queensberry '90 (Central Middle School), Debbie Quinn '92 (Blackstone Primary School), Janice Stanley '92 (Cumberland High School), Carla Terry '09 (Amelia County Middle School), Joy Utzinger (Prince Edward County Elementary School), Jill Ward (Powhatan High School), Mary Webster (Powhatan Elementary School), Stephanie Wirt '97(Powhatan High School), Valeri York (Appomattox Primary School), and Jamie Yurasits '13 (Buckingham County Primary School).

The LCVA is located at 129 North Main Street in Farmville. The galleries are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. For additional information on this or other programs, call 434-395-2206.