Stories Unfolded: Journey of the Imagination  

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Afterschool Arts Outreach (AAO) program, which has provided visual arts education to youth (ages 5 to18) in under-resourced Palm Beach County communities since 1991. AAO offers weekly art classes, field trips to the Norton, and guest passes for participants and their families to visit the museum.  The program culminates with an annual exhibition showcasing artwork created by student artists from participating partners.

Storytelling is the unifying theme of the exhibition. Using a wide range of materials and techniques, museum educators encouraged students to explore how stories are told through characters, narrative, cultural traditions, and structure. Drawing inspiration from artists in the Norton Museum of Art's collection, as well as Japanese and Guatemalan artistic traditions, students expressed their own ideas and experiences through images, symbols, color, pattern, movement, and form. Together, these artworks invite viewers to reflect on their own stories, and the role imagination plays in shaping them.