They may be high school students, but they're exhibiting their art in a professional venue and extending their art education beyond the canvas or kiln.

For the sixth year, students from New London High School and Waterford High School have participated in the mid-January "Whalers + Lancers" student art show at the Hygienic Art Galleries on Bank Street in New London.

The show features between 350 and 400 pieces in all mediums: photography, drawings, paintings, ceramics, jewelry and mixed media from students in grades 9 through 12. To date, the Hygienic has written commission checks to more than 100 students totaling more than $2,000.

The pleasure of distributing the checks goes to James Stidfole-a wood turner and long-term board member of the Hygienic, who convinced the gallery to include the annual student show in its exhibit schedule.

"One of the highlights of my year is to drive to New London High and drop off an envelope and then drive to Waterford High and drop off another envelope," he says.

Stidfole explains that Ray Hasse of the Waterford Education Foundation had "hounded" him for years to do a high school show at the Hygienic, but he was skeptical, responding, "We're a professional gallery-we don't do high school shows."

Finally, Hasse asked Stidfole what it would cost to fund a student show and raised $1,000 through the foundation to cover the costs of the first show of WHS student work.

The following year, a decision was made to include NLHS in the show and to treat the student work like everyone else's -price it, and sell it-with the standard 30 percent commission going to the Hygienic and the balance to the artists.

"It doesn't matter what your talent is, art is a business and you need to think about how you value your work-the cost of materials, the time you put into it, and the dollar return-a whole aspect that's not usually dealt with in a high school art program," Stidfole notes.

He stresses that the students aren't just selling work to their families.

"There are art collectors in the region who look forward to this show, who are coming in and saying, 'This kid is really good. Twenty years from now, if this kid stays with art, this is going to have some serious value.'"

Rich Martin, Hygienic Gallery manager, says he's "never really surprised that the pieces have sold as well as they have because they are truly unique works."

"This show is proof that we need to continue our investment in the arts in our schools to help develop the talent that these students possess," Martin continues. "Any one of them could be our next Jasper Johns, Robert Mapplethorpe or Eva Hesse, and we need to encourage their development as early and often as possible."

Teachers and students respond

The show is not juried, and the art teachers help the students select work to submit, explains David Weber, who teaches art at WHS, along with his wife Rhonda Weber.

"There aren't prizes-just the pride of showing or selling," Weber says. "Some pieces are for student college portfolios; some are gifts for family and friends.

"The students that sell are very proud of the fact that someone is willing to pay for their art," he adds. "It gives students the experience of being professional artists and showing in a real art gallery."

Students also help to catalogue and hang the show.

Taylor Ouelette of WHS is participating in the show for her third year. She works mostly in oil, but also crafts mixed media pieces and sculpture.

She hasn't sold work yet, but says, "Hopefully this is my first year that I do. I know many people who have sold and said it was a wonderful experience.

"Mr. Weber teaches the classes about marketing and selling pieces in the student show. I've learned a great deal?.I think the marketing aspect is really interesting," she adds.

Ouelette plans to study art in college.

"My whole life revolves around what I'm doing in the art room," she says. "This is my first year taking it as seriously as I do, and once you dive headfirst into art, I don't think you can ever swim back up."

Also instrumental in putting the show together each year are NLHS art teachers Sue Cash and Andrea Aron.

"As art teachers, we try to select work that's representative of all of our students and shows the creative thought process, as well as the execution of the ideas in the problem solving of a given assignment," Aron says. "It's wonderful for the students to have the experience of showing and selling their work in such a prominent gallery."

Aron says they tie the business of art into classes at NLHS by bringing in representatives from art colleges to speak to the students about the varied options for careers in the arts, as well as taking trips to see Connecticut artists at work.

Chantel Lopez of NLHS is participating in the exhibit for the first time. A student in Aron's ceramic class, she works mostly with clay, but also uses embroidery strings, hemp and wood beads to make bracelets.

"I like the idea of having work for sale and making money by doing what I love-that's always a good thing," Lopez says. "But even if I don't sell anything, just knowing that my art was seen by others?and showing people how passionate I am about art makes me happy."

"There are some extraordinarily talented kids in this show," Stidfole says. "It has to do with how pumped the faculty gets the kids in really working with their skills. When you get great teachers out there like Dave and Sue and Andrea, helping them hone their skills-that's when things get really exciting."

If you go

What: Whalers + Lancers Student Art

Where: Hygienic Art Galleries, 79-83 Bank St., New Londo

When: Show continues through Jan. 21. Gallery hours are Thurs., 11-3, Fri. and Sat., 11-6, and Sun., 12-3.

Info: Call (860) 443-8001 or online www.hygienic.org.