RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - The second Mills Station Arts and Culture Center Student Art Show contains over 200 pieces of art by more than 195 students. “The call went out to kids that live in Rancho Cordova or go to school in Rancho Cordova, both public and private, as well as homeschooled,” said Cheryl Gleason, MACC Curator. Fourteen schools and learning centers are represented, both public and private, as well as home-schooled children and Girl Scout troops. Contributors are kindergarten through high school.

Joan Lim, whose son Bodhi, 6, entered the show, said that she became aware of the MACC art show through the newsletter from her son’s school, Robert J. McGarvey Elementary. The family also had visited the MACC in February. Lim makes sure Bodhi has plenty of materials with which to make art in his spare time, especially since with distance learning a lot of school art projects have been eliminated. “He does enjoy making collages and also drawing and coloring,” Lim said. “So it’s something he takes the initiative and he does it by himself.”

Lin has an older son as well. “There is a lot of competition from digital media,” Lin said. “Sometimes when they use up their digital time, then it’s back to basics. Anything you want, you can create. I think that giving them space to just create and also have a quiet time, it helps calm their minds.”

Students from the Rancho Cordova CCHAT Center (Children’s Choice for Hearing and Talking), entered art in the show. Out of around 55 current students, preschool through third grade, 18 submitted artwork for the show. Meredith Wright, teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing said, “I did a project in my class, and my co-worker Melissa did art in her class. Then we submitted those student art works to the MACC.” The Center does not have a regular art program, but the school works art into the day similarly to how a regular preschool or kindergarten does. “My students are in kindergarten and they’re here from 9am to 2:45 pm every day, so it’s a full day kindergarten,” Wright said. The process for their art project used a glass baking dish. They each used a special process to draw their picture in paint on the glass. “When they got to see it peeled off, they were so excited. This was a way of printmaking, making something in a different way that we hadn’t done before.”

There will be a “Violin on Fire” concert at the MACC, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Friday, April 16, featuring Patrick Contreras. The Zintzuni Food Truck will be there during that time.

The Student Art Show will be on view at the MACC Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from April 1 through April 17. Hours are 3-8 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Admission is free. The MACC is located at 10191 Mills Station Rd., Rancho Cordova. For more information about this exhibit or the MACC, please call Cheryl Gleason, 916-273-5712, or e-mail [email protected]. COVID-19 precautions are observed, and masks are required.