article and photo by Stephanie Hobby

In a continuation of a decades-long tradition, Billings School District 2’s fifth graders will once again showcase their creations at the same museum that has displayed works by artistic legends such as Charlie Russell, Will James, and Andy Warhol.

According to Carrie Goe Nettleton, education director at the Yellowstone Art Museum, the partnership between the YAM and SD2 dates back more than 50 years. The event kicks off every year with a visit from SD2 fifth-grade art teachers, who find an exhibition that inspires them and use that idea to reimagine similar work with their students.

“I think one of the things I really like about the fifth-grade show is that all the teachers are really intentional about making sure that everybody is a part of it, which is so important at that age, to tell them that your artwork matters, and what you do matters. It’s just always such a fun opportunity to see their artwork displayed in a professional setting,” Goe Nettleton said. She regularly hears from board members, donors, and artists who say the Young Artists’ Gallery is one of their favorite spaces. Artists often remember these experiences fondly and cite events like this as important to their careers.

“I think art is important for lots of reasons, but as far as in the education setting,

art teaches creative problem solving unlike any other subject, because it’s okay to get it wrong."

-CASEY DELCOSTELLO

For SD2 Elementary Art Specialist Casey DelCostello, who has participated since 2009, the exhibition is an opportunity for her students to showcase their creative abilities and the talent within Billings Public Schools. “This year, we’ve taken old CDs, which are defunct and we don’t use them anymore, and we have turned those into a loom, and we are weaving through those, and I’m going to stitch them all together in a quilt or a string,” she said. DelCostello works with four schools and will have 11 different groupings, one for each of her classes.

“They got to have fun and learn the weaving process, and the strife that comes with messing up and having to take it out. I think it’s good for them to build that failure in, because we grow with that. It’s neat to watch them help each other when they are struggling,” DelCostello said. You learn from getting it wrong, and I don’t think any other subjects in school necessarily allow for that failure and growth from it. Here, if you get it wrong, you might get to make something new,” DelCostello said.

The 2026 Fifth Grade Art Show launched in late February and will run through March 28. Admission is free for Yellowstone County residents with identification.

For more information about the Yellowstone Art

Museum’s many youth programs,

visit www.artmuseum.org

Originally printed in the March 2026 issue of Simply Local Magazine

Check this article out in the digital issue of Simply Local here!

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