Each year, Dawson County High School puts on its annual art show to display the works and techniques its students learn.

This year, the show travels to new heights under the direction of art teacher Jennifer Brinson, who replaced longtime teacher Chris Gore following his retirement last year.

"This is my first year teaching art at Dawson County. I was previously at Gainesville Middle School," Brinson said. "I love this program. I graduated from Dawson County and was a part of a few of [Gore's] shows."

The show is run by Brinson, however, students are chosen to plan and produce the show.

"We started about three months late this year, but we were brainstorming and travel came up, so we just went from there and it developed into the vintage travel theme that we have this year," said show art director Maggie Clark. "We've been working on just the decorations for the show for about two months."

This is Clark's first art show that she has worked on.

"I really liked it and I want to work on another one next semester," she said. "Next time, though, we won't waste as much time as we did and get to work on it sooner."

Rachel Starling and Ivy Grizzle were chosen to decide the theme and plan around that.

"We were tossing around ideas and I really want to travel when I get out of high school," Starling said. "I was thinking about things I like and things I want to do, which had a big part in inspiring this theme."

Starling said she wanted to bring an older feel to the show this year.

"I really wanted to go antique with this theme," she said. "So much of my generation uses technology and GPS and things like that and I kind of wanted to bring it down a bit and capture that antique-y, travel feel."

The two directors also had to pick the show staff, review artists and submissions and plan the aesthetics of the show.

Starling isn't just behind the scenes, though. She also has an award-winning piece in this year's show, with her oil pastel painting "Hands, pt. 2" winning first place in its category.

"I was really surprised. I was sitting in first period and one of the other artists told me that I got first place and I wasn't sure what she meant," she said. "When she told me it was in the art show, I was not expecting to win anything. I felt like more work went into the show than in my art this year."

The show is judged by an alumni panel.

"I categorize the art by their specialties for judging, pottery, painting, things like that. The alumni know what to look for based on their specializations," Brinson said. "I try to stay out of the judging as much as I can to remain impartial."

Overall, Brinson said she is happy at the show's outcome.

"This show has been a blast," she said. "Rachel and Ivy have really knocked it out with this one. They are both spectacular."