UNION COUNTY — The Union County Board of County Commissioners has announced that the 2026 Union County Teen Arts Touring Exhibit will begin its countywide tour at the Springfield FreePublic Library, located at 66 Mountain Avenue in Springfield. The exhibit will be on display from now through Thursday, July 2, during the library’s regular operating hours.
The exhibit features a selection of visual artwork created by middle and high school students who participated in the 2026 Union County Teen Arts Festival, an annual two-day celebration of creativity in the literary, performing and visual arts at UCNJ Union College of Union County, New Jersey’s Cranford campus. Several featured works have also been selected for display at the 2026 State Teen Arts Festival, which will be in June at Middlesex College.
“The Teen Arts Touring Exhibit is a wonderful reflection of the creativity, imagination and talent that exists throughout Union County,” said Joseph C. Bodek, Union County Board of County Commissioners chairperson. “These students have dedicated themselves to their craft and this exhibit gives our community the opportunity to celebrate their hard work while encouraging the next generation of artists, storytellers, and creative thinkers.”
Following its Springfield debut, the exhibit will continue touring through early 2027 with scheduled stops in Elizabeth, Linden, Plainfield, Scotch Plains, and at the Union County Commissioners Gallery in Elizabeth. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
The 2026 Teen Arts Touring Exhibit includes the following student artists:
Berkeley Heights
Alyeena Sternberg, Columbia Middle School
Addison Miller and Milagros Romero, Governor Livingston High School
Clark
Kate Gonzalez and Melanie Kwok, Arthur L. Johnson High School
Cassy Le, Carl H. Kumpf Middle School
Alyssa Monel and Eunice Odubanjo, Mother Seton Regional High School
Cranford
Alivia Boone and Nicole Wilson, Cranford High School
Nuno Carvalho, Lincoln School CAP
Maya Andersen and Logan Weber, Lincoln School CAP
Gabriella Mott, Orange Avenue School
Elizabeth
Sabrina Alvarado and Genesis Salas Paro, Dr. Orlando Edreira Academy
Isabel Dieguez Herrera, Elmora School No. 12
Hannah Bolhano, Jahlaya Pedro and Jasmie Ulat, Elizabeth High School at Frank J. Cicarell Academy
Hector Perez and Alexander Taveras, JVJ STEM Academy
Nathan Persaud, Joseph Battin School No. 4
Crystal Mercado, Thomas Edison Career & Technical Academy
Sarai Vargas, Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy
Benjamin Afonso and Edward Afonso, Victor Mravlag School No. 21
Margarete Perez, William F. Halloran School No. 22
Garwood
Avery Lee and Lucy Leonard, Lincoln School
Kenilworth
Victoria Rodrigues, David Brearley High School
Linden
Chari Theodore and Clerma Romelus, Linden High School
Olivia Wlodyka, McManus Middle School
Mariah Jordan, Soehl Middle School
Mountainside
Kennedy Moore, Deerfield School
Plainfield
Juarez Pineda, Plainfield Academy for the Arts and Advanced Studies Middle School
Roselle
Joseline Castillo, Abraham Clark High School
Briana Mejia Chacon, Grace Wilday Middle School
Roselle Park
Michael Aguanno and Isabella Rodriguez, Roselle Park High School
Mina Rodriguez, Roselle Park Middle School
Springfield
Noa Kandel, Florence M. Gaudineer Middle School
Maya Jaffe and Julissa Santamaria, Jonathan Dayton High School
Scotch Plains
Alexsia Matos, Union County Vocational-Technical Schools
Union
Frederich Tan, Union High School
The Union County Teen Arts Festival and Touring Exhibit are coordinated annually by the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs and the Department of Parks & Recreation to highlight and encourage the exceptional artistic talent of Union County teens. The program is made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information about Cultural and Heritage Affairs programs and services, contact the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at 633 Pearl St., Elizabeth, call 908-558-2550 or email culturalinfo@ucnj.org. NJ Relay users should call 7-1-1.
