Thursday, March 12, 2026

ArtNight Closeup: PUSD Students Build Their Own Gallery for ArtNight’s 21st No Boundaries Show

Rose City High School teens curate more than 300 works — and some young artists won’t know they’ve won scholarships until they walk in Friday night

For the 21st consecutive year, Pasadena Unified School District students will display their artwork in a professional gallery during ArtNight Pasadena — but the students who built the exhibition won’t be the only ones surprised by what they find on the walls.

Before the public arrives Friday afternoon at The Paseo, representatives from ArtCenter College of Design, Armory Center for the Arts, and the City of Pasadena Arts Commissioners will walk the gallery and place small stickers on selected artwork labels. The student artists will not know they have received scholarship awards or recognition until they arrive that evening, according to Karen Anderson, Arts and Enrichment Coordinator for Pasadena Unified School District.

“When the kids come for No Boundaries, they see, ‘Oh my gosh, why does it say ArtCenter next to my piece?’ And then they find out that they won an award for a scholarship to the ArtCenter,” Anderson said.

No Boundaries 21, which opens Friday, March 13, at The Paseo as one of 19 free venues during ArtNight Pasadena, draws more than 300 works from TK-12 students at every school in the district. The exhibition has opened on ArtNight every year since ArtNight began. The show is not assembled by staff. A group of students at Rose City High School curates and builds it through a 12-week work-based learning internship with artworxLA and the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, learning how to develop a professional gallery exhibition from the ground up.

As of this week, those student curators were still finalizing placements — making the creative decisions that determine where each piece lands. On Friday night, they will be present to guide visitors through the gallery they built.

“They are doing something they have never done before,” Anderson said of the Rose City students. “They’re accomplishing something that they never knew they could, and the sense of pride that the students take away is extremely impactful.”

Anderson said she hopes the show leaves a mark on everyone who walks in. “I would like families and parents and community members to feel inspired, to feel awe, to feel pride in their school and their community through this incredible exhibition of student artwork from kindergarten through 12th grade,” she said.

Every art teacher in the district — and non-art teachers as well — receives a package explaining how to submit student work. Every school has art represented in the show, Anderson said. All participating student artists receive letters and invitations to attend. The exhibition is supported by the DAT/CAT — the District Arts Team and Community Arts Team — a group of community partners and arts teachers who provide gallery sitting and support throughout the run. The Pasadena Educational Foundation is a financial sponsor of No Boundaries, according to PUSD arts program materials.

The scholarship and award process involves three partner organizations. “Our partners at the Armory Center for the Arts and ArtCenter College of Design, as well as the City of Pasadena Arts Commissioners, they come and peruse the artwork ahead of time and they give awards to the artwork,” Anderson said. The specific terms of those scholarships — including class types and award counts — had not been confirmed by either institution by publication time. ArtCenter College of Design, the Armory Center for the Arts, and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division did not respond to requests for comment. Artworks selected from the exhibition are also permanently displayed on the City of Pasadena’s Student Art Wall, according to PUSD program records.

Performances at No Boundaries 21 run the full evening, from 6 to 10 p.m. They include previews of PUSD spring musicals, rock bands, and jazz bands. Later in the evening, a group Anderson called “the Staff Lounge” takes the stage — a jazz band composed entirely of PUSD music teachers. “All of our music teachers doing what they do best on their own instruments,” she said. The performances are funded by a City of Pasadena MiniGrant through the Arts and Culture Commission, as confirmed on the city’s official ArtNight Pasadena page.

After Friday night, the gallery remains open for 10 days — covering two weekends and the week between — with limited hours, according to Anderson. ArtNight Pasadena, produced by the city’s Cultural Affairs Division, offers free admission and free shuttles to all 19 participating venues from 6 to 10 p.m. Wheelchair-accessible buses are also available.

No Boundaries 21 is at The Paseo, 300 E. Colorado Blvd., Suites 159 and 161, Pasadena. Admission is free. For more information, visit pusd.us/arts or ArtNightPasadena.org. The ArtNight Pasadena Hotline is (626) 744-7887.

“When it comes to our students’ potential,” Anderson said, “there are no boundaries, only possibilities.”