Take a quick glance at any Ah Haa schedule and the instructors, staff and board members listed read like a who's who of local artistic talent and inspiration. All of these people, whether in the classroom, at meetings or at work, are focused on using their talents to help others. Ah Haa's upcoming Faculty, Staff and Board Show – opening Thursday, March 16, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Silver Bell Gallery – gives this talented group of people a chance to shine.

During its almost two decades of art and eclectic instruction, the Ah Haa School has served as more than a dispensary of education: it has become a magnet for artists and other inspired, passionate professionals who are as eager to share their talents as exercise them. This show will display work from all the people who keep Ah Haa happening, and promises to be an art smorgasbord you won't want to miss.

"This is going to be the best show we've ever had," said Judy Kohin, artist and Ah Haa executive director. "We are encouraging people to put in recent work, and using myself as an example, I made a piece especially for the show. I hope other people are inspired to make new pieces as well. It will be a very dynamic show."

Aside from being the driving force behind Ah Haa from its earliest years, Kohin is an accomplished artist who is widely known for her Valley Cows comic strip and book. For the show, she has created a personal, mixed media piece that draws on journal excerpts and letter extractions taken from the last 25 years blended with images for a kind of collage self-portrait.

"My motivation was to purge some of that history, but rather than throw it out, I thought it could work in an art piece," she said. "Some of them are my old ski racing journals, others are love letters and drawings. It's a piece like I haven't done in a long time." Other faculty members contributing to the show are Margaret Cruzzavala, Ah Haa's general manager, and Jennifer Heflin, marketing coordinator.

While Cruzzavala and Heflin are non-traditional artists, both were inspired after recently taking classes with Ah Haa instructors Julie McNair and Susie Billings.

"I was really surprised myself with this piece," said Cruzzavala, who plans on submitting a ceramic bowl. "I've never really done much art but I was so inspired by Julie's ceramics class."

Other talented artists expected to show their work are Billings, Brittany Miller, Meredith Nemirov, Jacey DePriest and Kathy Green.

Kohin is very excited about this collection of art produced by the Ah Haa School's very own.

"This is going to be a showcase of work from the incredibly talented people who make up the staff, faculty and board members of the school; they are the creative energy in this community," she said. "People will be wowed when they see this collection of work."

For more information, call Ah Haa at 728-3886.