Educating children about the arts, and offering them access to gallery and exhibition space, has always been a key component of our mission at the Morean Arts Center.

Since 1997, the Morean has worked with Pinellas County schools to create Word + Image: Arts and Education Partnership. The Morean hosts four of these juried exhibitions each year, including work from students at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

Each year, students are challenged to create works of art based on a particular theme, and to incorporate a written statement within the piece.

This year’s theme I WILL… is the students’ interpretation of their future on a personal level and/or a goal they are working toward or wish to attain.  The aim is to encourage the student to “project” their imagination to future possibilities and imagine what awaits them, what their potential roles could be in the real world, and how they might prepare to make a difference, whether it’s a goal for tomorrow, a year from now, or decades in the future.

Limited only by their imaginations, these children’s creations are sometimes hilarious, often heartfelt, and always extraordinary.

WORD + IMAGE SCHEDULE FOR  2025 – 2026:

October 25 – November 29, 2025: High School Exhibition

December 6, 2025 – January 17, 2026: Middle School Exhibition

January 24 – March 7, 2026: Elementary School Exhibition (A-M)

March 14 – April 25, 2026: Elementary School Exhibition (N-W)

Thank you to our sponsors!

Founding Sponsor: The Hough Family Foundation

Pinellas Community Foundation’s Janet A. Huntley Music and Arts Public Education Fund