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Steamboat Springs — For a piece of student art to make the cut for the Routt County Youth Art Show, teacher Susan Koehler isn't necessarily looking for something that meets class objectives.

"They're pieces that I have selected from work throughout the year," said Koehler, who teaches art to Hayden High School students and eighth-graders from Hayden Middle School. "These are pieces that go beyond the exercise component, and I think just transcend that and become strong and interesting pieces on their own."

Hayden students contributed about 50 pieces to the Routt County Youth Art Show - presented by the Steamboat Springs Arts Council and opening with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Depot Art Center.

The number of pieces each school gets to submit is based on its population, said Rachel Radetsky, events and facilities manager for the Arts Council. The show features work by students from public and private elementary, middle and high schools in Steamboat Springs, Hayden, North Routt County and South Routt County.

Koehler said her students don't design their work with a youth art show spot in mind. But the recognition does provide motivation for those who get a chance to participate, she said.

"We're so small in Hayden, and we show art to ourselves, and this is an opportunity to take it out to the next level and to acknowledge some kids' work in a different environment with some new people to enjoy it," Koehler said.

This year's show has anywhere from 200 to 275 pieces of student work, making it one of the largest collections the Arts Council has received for the year-end exhibit, Radetsky said.

"We have allowed schools to submit more pieces than they have in the past, which has been really great because there's so much talent," Radetsky said.

The Arts Council's Visual Arts Committee - a volunteer group responsible for planning and executing art events and exhibits at the Depot - curated the show. It is the first full exhibit at the Depot since the end of February. A deep cut in city funding and several staff changes - including the loss of an executive director and two part-time visual arts employees - affected Arts Council programming earlier in the year.

"With all of the funding issues with the budget cuts from the city and grants being lower and donations being lower, the Visual Arts Committee was a creative way for us to continue these programs that have been a tradition at the Arts Council," Radetsky said.

The family-oriented reception includes live entertainment by student musicians, refreshments, and an interactive art activity provided by the Steamboat Arts & Crafts Gym.

Square dance after reception

Green Ridge Mountaineers member Ann Root describes square dancing as "fun and friendship set to music." Immediately following the Youth Art Show reception, the Tread of Pioneers Museum and the Green Ridge Mountaineers hope to share that description with a community square dance.

The dance starts with a demonstration by the Mountaineers, who normally meet Friday nights at the American Legion hall in Hayden. Group members range in age from junior high school students to octogenarians. After the demonstration, the floor will be open to dancers of all ages to join in.

The event is in celebration of the Tread of Pioneers Museum's 50th anniversary. Square dancing was popular in Steamboat Springs in the years leading up to the museum's formation in 1959, said Tread of Pioneers Executive Director Candice Lombardo. Film footage of a 1951 Steamboat Springs square dance festival will be playing during the event.

"We have been aware of that history and have had this film footage, so doing some sort of square dance is something that we've had our eye on for a long time," Lombardo said.

The square dance includes free refreshments, giveaways and door prizes. It's the first of a series of events celebrating the Tread's anniversary, Lombardo said. The museum at Eighth and Oak streets has an exhibit showcasing its five decades of chronicling and preserving Routt County history.