Kutztown Area SD showcases student artwork, announces Steamroller Print Festival

District art teachers presented the Kutztown Area SD Board with highlights from the district’s long-running Traveling Art Show and announced an expanded community arts calendar that includes a Steamroller Print Festival on April 17.

The presentation emphasized the breadth of K–12 visual art work that will travel to local businesses over the coming year and highlighted the district’s recognition by the Pennsylvania Art Education Association for the seventh consecutive year. Ben Hoffman, identified in the transcript as the high school art teacher, said the traveling exhibition “celebrates our K through 12 achievements visually” and that the district is exploring a permanent community collection after the one-year rotation.

Teachers described classroom projects and student pieces selected for the touring exhibition, from kindergarten monochromatic self-portraits to high-school linoleum reduction prints. The presentation named several student contributors and noted different techniques used in the selected works, including optical illusion drawing, observation studies, charcoal, watercolor layering and multi-edition printmaking.

The presentation also announced a new Kutztown showcase week that will bring ensembles and arts events together across multiple evenings, with band night, an art and ag night with a plant sale and choir night culminating in a combined finale. Board members were invited to recess briefly after the presentation to view the works up close.

On the festival plans, Hoffman described a large-scale print event that will use an outdoor press method commonly known as steamroller printing. “We’re having a massive steamroller show up to the school,” he said, and outlined logistics including carved blocks, inked impressions, moving blankets and safe bases; organizers said the goal for the first year is 36 prints and that rain plans include moving the activity into the Field House. The district said it will involve local artists — the transcript names Victoria Beck as a participating local printmaker — and run student-friendly activities (t-shirt contests, screen printing, button making) alongside the large prints.

Teachers asked board members and community attendees to help publicize student work via classroom and district social channels; calendars with selected pieces will be available. The board did not take formal action on the arts items during the presentation; teachers requested, and received, time for members to view the exhibit.

The district framed the events as community-engagement opportunities that showcase student learning across art and related curricular skills such as geometry, perspective and observational drawing. The presentation concluded with thanks to staff, volunteers and the school board for supporting arts programming.