Tonight, the cafeteria at Southern High School in Harwood will transform into an art gallery. The cafeteria tables will be upended and art will be hung from the tabletops and seats. Thousands of pieces of art will be displayed from Southern High students as well as students from the feeder schools including Southern Middle, Shady Side, Lothian, Tracys and Deale Elementary schools.

"Right after the [the final lunch period] we begin the transformation. By 5 p.m. we have to have everything ready because that is when our judge comes," said Michael Bell, art department chair at the school.

This year's art entries will be judged by Michael Sprouse, a contemporary artist who has exhibited at galleries throughout the mid-Atlantic area.

The students from Bell's AP studio art class will be spearheading the effort to put on the show, now in its 14th year.

The show is free and some of the art will be available for sale.

National Art Honor Society Southern High chapter president Louis Fratino, who has been in Bell's gifted and talented art program since middle school is one of those students. Fratino mostly works as a painter.

"It is something I was always interested in, but it wasn't until high school that I really got into it," Fratino said.

Bell recommends all his students carry journals to record their thoughts and artistic ideas. Fratino credits this visual journaling as one of the things that has really helped him to become a better artist.

Fratino is the 2011 National Art Education Association’s Rising Star Award Winner in Art. Fratino and Bell headed to Seattle last month to pick up the honor.

Fratino said that what he likes best about Southern’s ArtQuest event each year is that the exhibits aren't just from students who are in the art program.

"It's art from everyone—the kids who are involved in sports and other things," he said.

Fratino is excited to see who gets the "Best in Show" award, a huge honor among the students. Past winners have gone on to prestigious art schools including the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC.

In addition, the award comes with about $2,000 in prize money.

The Southern High art program has been making great strides under the direction of Bell. This year, his students have received scholarship offers totaling over $1 million.

In addition, Bell said that this year's National Gold Key winner is Leigh Rogers, 17, a Southern High senior. Over 12,000 students nationwide apply for the honor. Past Gold Key winners have included (as youths) Andy Warhol and Robert Redford.

Rogers' focus is photography. "I like being able to express myself. Sometimes images are more powerful than letters," she said.

Tye Ellis, 17, is one of the students with a great eye for art, one that has been nurtured by Bell in the AP studio art class. Ellis' focus has been photography and using computer applications and technology to manipulate his photographs. But Ellis won't be heading to art school like some of the other students. With a mind for engineering, he's been accepted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston this fall.

Elisha Stinson, 17, would like to merge her love of art with her interest in psychology for an eventual career in art therapy for children.

Seth Millman, 18 is another one of Bell's scholarship rock stars, with over $200,000 in funds. His specialty is newsprint collages, which he paints with oils. Millman will be heading to LaSalle University in the fall.

Bell is excited about his students and the direction that the art program is taking at Southern. One of his favorite things about ArtQuest is that the event brings the younger students into high school.

“We bring in the elementary and middle school students. It helps kids make a connection to the high school at an early age,” he said.

Tonight’s show is free and open to the public.