Remember the days of finger painting and sculpting mugs? Penn State students with a hankering to revisit their grade school art classes will soon have the opportunity.

For the first time in its existence, the State College Area School District K-12 exhibition will run for more than three days in the Robeson Galley at the HUB-Robeson Center.

The exhibition, which began Jan. 3 and will run until Saturday, showcases about 170 pieces, including a variety of paintings, sculptures, photography, cinema art, jewelry making and other forms of art created by the students.

"This is the first year we've been able to expand it, and it will be up for three weeks and from now on we'll have it for three weeks," said Ann Shields, head of the HUB-Robeson Galleries. "This is good for our art education and education students because now they can see it for the spring semester."

James Ritchey, arts department coordinator for the State College Area School District, said the student's art teachers selected the pieces from their classes.

"Each art teacher had the opportunity to submit 10 works of art from their students and consequently, they represent the K-12 group," he said.

Ritchey said he asked the teachers to select pieces that demonstrated skill of the craft and individual creative expression.

"There were lots of things we talked about, but I wanted as much diversity in the show as I could get," he said. "I think that this year compared to previous years -- we have a wider range of visual photography images as our curriculum responds to the changes in technology."

Richey said people who attend the show are invited to fill out comment cards that will be delivered directly to the student artists.

"The students always appreciate getting feedback from the general public, whether they are kindergartners or 12th graders," he said.

For some of the contributing artists, this is not their first time being a part of this exhibition.

Dale Short, a junior at the State College Area High School, had pieces in the show when he was in fifth, sixth and 10th grades. This year, he was chosen to submit a ceramic piece he created.

"It's a tea bowl, a couple inches high and a couple inches in diameter," he said. He said his piece was salt-fired, a finish that gave it more shine and texture. "It's altered -- I attached on extra pieces of clay to add to more interest to it," he added.

Short, who also has ceramic pieces on display at Artisan Connection, 135 E. Beaver Ave., said it's a rare opportunity for young artists to see their work "finished."

"When it's sitting on a pedestal with lighting on it, you see a whole new beauty to it you never would have appreciated with it before," he said.