Students from Rio Norte Junior High School unveiled their artwork for display on the community wall at Westfield Valencia Town Center on Friday evening.

Titled the Support Art For Expression, or SAFE, exhibition, the students from Daryl Bibicoff’s visual arts class created art pieces to display on the wall, which was meant to be a way for students to find their individual identity and let go of harmful emotions.

“This is to encourage people to express their emotions through their art,” said Jasmine Abbe, a student at Rio Norte.

Students were able to freely create any drawing or painting that would allow them to express their thoughts, emotions and creativity.

Caria Dubs, a contributor to the exhibit and student at Rio Norte, said she created a drawing inspired from the Disney film “Frozen II” and said one of her career choices is to work in animation for Disney one day, just like her mother and aunt.

“This showed all the diversity in art,” said Dubs. “Not every art style is the same, and it’s important to have diversity. Some people do better with realistic drawings and other people do better with more cartoonish drawings. We were able to show our diversity.”

Along with creative expression, students had the opportunity to experiment with different mediums.

Attendees examine the more than 60 pieces of artwork displayed as part of the SAFE “Support Art For Expression” exhibit created by Rio Norte Junior High seventh and eighth-grade students displayed on the Community Wall in the Westfield Valencia Town Center on Friday, February 7, 2020. | Photo: Dan Watson / The Signal.

Emma Buliga, who used colored pencil for her art piece, said after this project she’s been encouraged to use different mediums, such as ballpoint pen, to expand on different ways to creatively express herself.

“Take as many opportunities as you can to get as much experience as you can,” said Abbe, when asked what advice she’d give to young artists. “Talk to people who make art as their career and be inspired from their stories.

The exhibit will be on display on the community wall for the duration of February.

“It’s a really difficult time right now and we need to find people that express themselves visually,” Bibicoff said. “We have challenging times in our schools, more challenging than ever. It’s important for young visual people to get out there and make a statement.”