Thirty-two weeks out of the year, Carol Mann is teaching. Some students have been with her for all six years she’s been sharing her artistic skill with water and pigment. Others are new to her studio. Many of them will be showing their work for the first time at Mann’s second-annual student art exhibit.

The exhibit opens next Wednesday with a reception at Arts of the Pamlico’s Turnage Theatre, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

“There will be a wide variety: landscapes, still lifes, animals, florals. It’s a pretty vast variety. Some of them I don’t know because they had to do the work on their own,” Mann said.

Mann is co-owner of Lemonade Art Gallery on West Main Street in downtown Washington, which features the work of many artists, as well as studio space for classes. For this exhibit, Mann challenged her students to paint outside of class, to branch out and create using the techniques they’ve learned. By requiring that each piece be painted outside of the classroom, subjects and styles are expanded, and duplicates non-existent.

“I want them to venture out on their own. For some of them, this will be their first show; some of them were there last year,” Mann said.

While several students’ work sold at last year’s exhibit, the event served to encourage others to submit their work to other shows.

Mann estimates that 35 to 40 of her 56 students will be participating in this year’s exhibit — some of them with more than one piece.

The reception is open to the public and music will be provided by local musicians Pat Wheelock, Jeff Gould and Bob Daw. The show will be on display at the Turnage Theatre through the month of January.

Arts of the Pamlico’s Turnage Theatre is located at 150 W. Main St., Washington. For more information, call 252-946-2504 or visit www.artsofthepamlico.org.