CRESTVIEW HILLS, KY — A new exhibition of high school artists is painting a different portrait of how students were affected throughout the pandemic.

The annual high school student art exhibition at Thomas More University had the most entries since the show began in 1994.

“In prior years, we’ve had less submissions,” said Kirk Mayhew, a professor in the Department of Creative Media. “This time, we had so many submissions that we had to turn down like three-quarters of the pieces.”

They received more than 300 works from 16 schools in Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and one school in Indiana. In the end, they selected 70 pieces - he says they could have included a lot more.

“Many quality pieces were put off to the side because of other pieces being of even higher quality,” Mayhew said.

Mayhew said he believes some students made good use of all that time stuck in the house during COVID.

“Being isolated doesn’t mean you can’t be expressive," Mayhew said. "Being isolated doesn’t mean you can’t work."

Kylie Durban, a senior at Batavia High School, said she now plans to study art and graphic design at Thomas More University.

“I think during Covid, that was when I discovered art,” said Durban.

Mayhew said when the effort is put into the work, a menagerie is created.

“During the pandemic, to take up my time and heal my boredom I often drew,” said Maura Eckerle, a student from Highlands High School, whose work entitled “Ghosts” was selected for the show. Maura said it was inspired by the sense of loss she and her friends felt during the pandemic.

“Every student in the Pandemic was suffering from some type of loneliness like absence of a school building and friendships,” Maura Eckerle said. “I think I wanted to display that.” Maura’s glad to be back in the art room at Highlands, where her father, Andy Eckerle, is the teacher.

“A majority of the work dealt with that, dealt with coping with this isolation,” Andy Eckerle said. “A lot of pieces that were very introspective.”

His daughter plans to keep creating- especially now that she’s had a taste of being featured in a gallery.

“It’s very cool being able to say that people have looked at it and felt something from it because that’s like the ultimate goal of art,” Maura Eckerle said. “I feel like it’s an accomplishment.” She’s part of a show featuring more accomplished young artists than ever before.

“The students worked even harder to make something of themselves,” Mayhew said. “They’ve made a very amazing statement.”

The high school art exhibition runs until Dec. 2nd at the Eva G. Farris Gallery in the library on Thomas More University’s main campus in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.