McKee Student Art Exhibition

The student artwork represented here is featured as part of the Haggin's McKee Exhibition.

Every year when the McKee Student Art Exhibition opens, the Haggin Museum is so thick with parents and kids eagerly scouring the walls for their pieces that you almost can't move.

It's hard to remember how special it must feel to see your work hanging, not just on the refrigerator, but in a museum.

The exhibition was dreamed up almost a century ago by Robert T. McKee, the Haggin's founding patron, as a way to encourage the artistic pursuits of local students. At 81-years-old, it's the longest-running student art competition in the country.

This year, students were invited to create artwork based on the themes of conflict and resolution - communication, compromise, empathy and respect - explored in Uzu and Muzu from Kakaruzu, a piece created for the Stockton Symphony by Israeli composer Avner Dorman. The parable tells the story of a silly disagreement between brothers that escalates to become a generations-long quarrel.

The crowds have thinned a bit now, and you have until April 1 to check out the more than 1,200 pieces - representing nearly 70 schools - that are featured in the exhibition.