FARMINGTON — Hundreds of pieces of artwork done by students in grades two through five in Regional School Unit 9 will be on display starting Thursday in the lobby at the University of Maine at Farmington Emery Community Art Center on Academy Street.

The Art Madness exhibit opens with a reception from 5-7 p.m. Thursday and runs through Feb. 6.

About 550 students participated and each has at least two pieces of art on display, the center’s building technical director, Stan Spilecki, said Wednesday.

“There are well over 1,000 pieces and many thousands of push pins,” Spilecki said. He and Associate Tech Director Joel Johnson put up the display.

“It’s great, very colorful,” he said. It is the most art that has been featured on the walls outside the gallery, he said.

Among the variety of mediums are weaving, painting, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. One wall has dozens of pieces featuring Maine lighthouses. Another has Georgia O’Keeffe-inspired sunflowers. One wall has circle weavings, while another has radial symmetry pieces.

The content ranges from abstract art to cultural symbolism, according to a UMF news release.

RSU 9 art teacher Kendra Stenger, curator of the collection, worked with students to create the artwork. Students are from Cascade Brook School in Farmington, Academy Hill School in Wilton and Cape Cod Hill School in New Sharon.

Fourth-grader Travis Perreault of Cascade Brook School proposed Art Madness as the title of the exhibit.

The center is open from 7 a.m. to about 6 p.m. weekdays and noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays, Spilecki said.