WELLS — Artwork by 68 Wells-Ogunquit School District K-12 students, all with the theme of “My Special Place in Nature,” was exhibited and recognized at the 17th annual Student Conservation Art Awards Night held May 24 at Wells Elementary School.

Sponsored by the Wells Conservation Commission, the program works to encourage students to express their connection to the natural world through the visual arts. Guiding the projects were art teachers Sandy Brennan, Emily Knight and Vanessa White- Capelluti, and science teacher Bruce Fearon. The student artwork will be on display in local venues, including Wells Town Hall, Wells Public Library and York Hospital’s Wells campus.

More than 120 students, parents, grandparents, educators and town officials attended the recent exhibition and awards ceremony, where the K-12 artwork was on display. Dairy Queen of Wells donated ice cream gift certificates to the honored elementary and middle school students.

Tim Roche, vice chairman of the Wells selectmen, presented Merit Awards to students. He praised the quality of the 72 works of art on display by kindergarten to grade 12 students. Roche, who is also an educator and coach of the Wells High School football team, commended the work of the town’s Conservation Commission

The Wells Conservation Commission is an all-volunteer town board which advises selectmen on acquiring conservation land for public use, using money from the town’s Land Bank. The commission keeps vigil over the town’s natural resources, especially forest and water that provide wildlife habitat, human recreation, and outdoor education.

The town of Wells now owns approximately 2,000 acres of conservation lands including rivers, streams, forests, and marshes, and maintains trails on four large parcels.

Conservation Commission Chairman Owen Grumbling reminded the audience “how lucky we are to live in a town with such beautiful natural scenes and resources, and where the comprehensive plan calls for maintaining the rural character of the town.”

He urged the young people to ask their parents to take them walking on the town’s conservation lands.

Volunteer trail manager Markus Diebolt read selected student artist statements, noting how many of the students expressed appreciation of the beauty and tranquility they felt when visiting their “favorite place in nature.”

He reminded the young people and their families that the natural beauty in southern Maine is giving way to development of homes and shopping malls, so that it is important to support conservation efforts of the town and local land trusts such as the Laudholm Trust and the Great Works Regional Land Trust.

Wells residents are invited to respond to an online survey that will guide creation of the town’s new comprehensive plan; the survey offers opportunities to comment on the importance of conserving land and other natural resources.

2016 Conservation Art Merit Award winners selected by a panel of judges were:

Kindergarten: Luke Boucher, Alexis Chase, Gabby Hussey, Allie McDonough, Lucas Madsen;

Grade 1: Regan Bedell, Haley Delisle, Aaliyah Dufort, Emily Finch, Rayanne Luby, Jesse Pullen.

Grade 2: Elizabeth Adams, Norah Donnell, Adriana Ducharme, Austin Mills, Owen Shangraw.

Grade 3: Dominic Buxton, Tory Chase, Lia Lord-Rozeff, Hayden Meffert, Reese Murphy, Lilian Sittig.

Grade 4: Sarah Ackerman, Evan Belanger, Brian Fetzner, Zac Smith, Kameron Tufts.

Grade 6: Charlotte Allaire, Delia Bailey, Olivia Chase, Auggie Ciorra, Megan Cox, Anavi Curtiss, Peyton Haggerty, Sophie Killam, Ellie Meffert, Laci Raso, Kaitlyn Verge, Samantha Woodman;

Grade 9: Lauren Bartlett, Hannah Cottis, Lauren Dow, Brian Hayden, Paula Kaszynski, Sam Kucharski, Kyle Stone, Max Wilusz;

Grade 10: Abigail Bourque, Claudia Davis, Lilly Hendry, Kaylee Hollins, Madison Lavalle, Blair Tweed.

Grade 11: Joseph Chaplin, A.J. Connolly-Pelletier, Sierra Daney, Elana Fortin, Kayla Lanagan, Samuel Livingston, Alyssa Loukola, Takara McDermott, Marisa Mizzoni, Sydnie Sayward, Dawson Sibley;

Grade 12: Christian Martin, Samantha Metzler, Gabrielle Powell, Matt Swanick.