Art culture is readily apparent in The Woodlands, with more than 50 pieces of public art scattered throughout the community. The Woodlands Waterway Art Festival, held each spring, is one of the most popular and successful art shows in the country, according to ArtFair SourceBook.

But despite the public art and festival, The Woodlands lacks a true art museum. The Woodlands High School is working to change that.

Through The Woodlands High School Art Trust, 20 works of fine art are on display for all to see.

"To me, this is The Woodlands art museum," said trust board member Susan Cosculluela. "Because we're public, and we're free."

Through The Woodlands High School program, a student committee establishes relationships with Texas artists who submit their works for possible selection into the trust and eventually for display at the school. The committee then chooses 15 selections, which are put to a vote by TWHS students. The top three works are unveiled at the annual Palettes & Paintings event in January.

Now in its fifth year, Cosculluela said the students' selections have evolved over time.

"Most people go with something safe, like an abstract or a portrait [when selecting art]," she said. "But it's been interesting to see how each year the students pick something a little different."

Once the top selections are unveiled, the student committee purchases as many of the top five works as it can afford, which Cosculluela said typically is all five. She said the budget to purchase works is about $3,000, and is money that is raised each year through the school's homecoming dance.

The 20 works purchased so far are on display throughout the school.

"We try to place them so that students pass by some of them at some point during their day," Cosculluela said

2015 Palettes & Paintings

The Woodlands High School Art Trust's fifth annual event features the unveiling of this year's selections as well as an auction of painted wooden palettes.

Jan. 30, 7–8:30 p.m.

The Woodlands High School

6101 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands

Free and open to the public

The Woodlands High School Art Trust

6101 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands

713-398-7627, www.twhsat.org