It’s not exactly business as usual in the main office lobby at Harker’s upper school campus. Sure, there are phones ringing, copy machines whirring, visitors popping in asking questions, the sound of papers rustling. And yet, despite these typical happenings, there’s something very different about the place: it is doubling as an art gallery for the middle school’s impressive visual arts program, presenting select student work created during the school year.

Each spring, all of Harker’s campuses hold art shows to give students a venue for the works they have completed thus far, but the Saratoga exhibit includes specially selected works. The exhibit kicked off with an opening reception this month and will run until April 6. On April 23 the main middle school art exhibit will open on the middle school campus, where it will run until May 15, with an opening reception held there on April 24.

In the Saratoga exhibit, colorful paintings and ceramics, from figurines to wire sculptures and mobiles, filled the outer walls on all sides of the room, giving a lovely, transformative ambience to the office setting.

On display from sixth graders were assorted plates and bowls with tempting fake food such as pie, French fries, vegetables and fruit. One particularly cheery plate radiated with painted-on yellow smiley faces. Grade 7-8 ceramics included a section of sea animals titled “Formed by the Sea.” They also had a table at the show containing glass fusion and casting, comprising sculptures illuminated by lights revealing the intricacy of the work.