Historic Downtown Dade City - From a Child's View

Downtown Dade City is the kind of small town that artists and photographers love to document. It's quaint, charming and historic, with obvious artistic appeal. But set a group of middle school students out in the Courthouse Square with paints and brushes and you get something truly special.

Colorful, vibrant images, some detailed, some simplistic, no two pieces are alike, even of the same building or block. Particularly striking were the many unique renderings of the early 1900s courthouse at the center of town, which many of the students chose as their focal point, with stunning results.

These images were all created about two years ago by students in Lesli Platt's art class at Centennial Middle School in Dade City. Ms. Platt has since brought students to St. Leo University and downtown Zephyrhills to paint. Earlier this year, her students got their first "gallery" show - at the recently opened Uptown Gallery, run by a group of local artists in Dade City.

That show ended in February but Ms. Platt is hoping to do more. To read more about Ms. Platt, her students and her passion for showcasing their work, click here. We hope to post more of her students' work here soon!