The 33rd Annual Creative Youth Art League exhibition opened at the LaGrange Art Museum on April 26, 2026, with award winners announced for student-created artworks. Jackson Rakestraw, a 9th grader from Heard County High, won the Morrill Hutchinson Award for Best of Show, while Taylor Norred, an 11th grader from Troup High, received the Wates Keller Award for Best of Show in Troup County. The exhibition features over 384 students from 30 schools and homeschool groups across four Georgia counties, with categories spanning drawing, painting, mixed media, sculpture, ceramics, and photography.
This exhibition matters because it highlights the ongoing commitment to youth arts education in rural Georgia communities, continuing the legacy of founder Morrill Turner Hutchinson who believed youth art should be an essential community component. The program provides young artists with professional museum exhibition experience and recognition, fostering the next generation of creative talent through structured awards and scholarships offered by the museum's Board of Governors.