To the left of an oversized garage door, floor-to-ceiling windows stretch across the lower level of her classroom. Looking down from the top of an industrial staircase, Jennifer Rodriguez checks in with the students sitting at a long table by the window.

“Do you guys need the lights on?” Rodriguez asks.

They shake their heads no as the lights flicker on and off while another student adjusts a projection of her artwork onto a canvas that stretches the height of the wall.

What seems like a normal day in Jennifer Rodriguez’s AP art class at Mt. Lebanon High School is busier than usual as students prepare for the upcoming art show. In a little more than a month, the 38 students in this year’s AP cohort will showcase their 20-piece exhibits to the community.

Working within requirements set by the College Board, students complete a Sustained Investigation centered on the work in their exhibits.

“Each student gets to design the theme they want to work in,” Rodriguez said. “These students have asked a question, and their work has answered that question 20 different times.”

Rodriguez, a former art student at the high school who graduated in 1997, knows well what it takes to make the show a success. She has helped evolve the event from a small-scale exhibition to an online show during COVID-19 and now to a community event that hosted more than 1,000 people last year. Rodriguez and her students hope this year will be the most successful yet.

“It is our most diverse show to date. It will showcase a myriad of styles and approaches to creative problems,” Rodriguez said. “We have everything from 3D portfolios with ceramics to 2D portfolios, even one that showcases bleach painting on black fabric — along with digital art, hand-rendering and paintings of all sizes.”

That diversity is reflected in AP art student Talia Pizzuti’s exhibit.

“I like to make things that I can use,” Pizzuti said. “I have been sewing since I was little. I love doing things with clay and crocheting. I love to make physical things. Painting is the odd one out in my collection.”

Ceramics are also featured in her portfolio, but the standout pieces in her exhibit use collage to create landscapes tied to a nature-based theme.

“I take aspects of nature and bring them to life, give them emotions and put those emotions on the canvas,” Pizzuti said.

In senior Anja Williams’ exhibit, themed “Broadening the Definition of Decomposition,” a featured piece explores the idea of molting — a concept she feels reflects her current stage of life.

“I am in a time of abrupt change with going to art school next year,” Williams said. “So in my head this piece is a molting of my old self and going into a new era of my life.”

Williams uses art as a tool to capture personal growth and artistic development.

“It tracks how I have grown over the years,” she said. “It’s like my own version of scrapbooking or keeping a journal.”

More than 200 students will pass through Rodriguez’s classroom this year, and many leave with the same feeling as senior Ava Heidenreich — welcomed and prepared for the future.

“Art has helped me with time management,” Heidenreich said. “The number of projects we do each year has also helped me develop my problem-solving skills.”

All three students have completed two years in AP Art as juniors and seniors. This exhibition will be the second and final time they show their work during high school, and Heidenreich said she is looking forward to it.

“I love how special the atmosphere is,” she said. “All the art students have worked so hard leading up to the day, and it is great to see how proud everyone is of their work.”

Both Heidenreich and Williams say Rodriguez’s encouragement — along with the pace of the AP Art course — has helped them become comfortable with imperfections in the creative process and adapt to the fast pace required to prepare their exhibits.

“I am not used to churning out pieces fast,” Williams said. “This process made it more rhythmic.”

For Rodriguez, the art show centers on her students and their success, but it also reflects a connection between the local community and art.

“Being able to articulate your process, your style, your artistic voice — it’s not just a good life skill,” Rodriguez said. “It builds connections.”

She added that the show also provides a window into how young artists see the world.

“It helps inform Mt. Lebanon about what the current art trends are with our youth,” Rodriguez said, “and helps our youth become informed by the community around them.”

The Mt. Lebanon High School Annual Art Show will take place April 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Center Court at the high school. The event will feature live music from the high school jazz band, framed art for sale and three floors of displayed artwork, including pieces from students across all high school art classes and the AP Art students’ exhibits.