Drawing and painting teacher Janice Frame had reason to be proud of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School senior Lonni Philips’ success last week at Featherstone Center for the Arts. Ms. Philips has, after all, been a student of Ms. Frame’s since kindergarten, when her work most likely consisted of finger paintings and play dough sculptures.

Her artwork has become a bit more sophisticated over the years, and last week she sold two of her paintings for upwards of $100 at the Featherstone show. But it’s more than pocket money that makes the exhibition extraordinary. Most students, said Ms. Frame, wouldn’t dream of the chance to showcase their artwork in a professional setting at such a young age.

“I don’t know of a high school that allows seniors to have professional shows,” said Ms. Frame this week. The regional high school, of course, being the exception.

“Some of the stuff is so powerful that the community needs to share it. And this is an artistic community,” she said. “This is a community that really appreciates the arts, so we’re kind of lucky.”

Ms. Philips displayed her work alongside that of fellow seniors Brianna Buchanan and Augusta Dillon last week. Ms. Frame was equally proud of the two other students, and of the four students displaying work at Featherstone this week, Melanie Kraus, Hannah Marlin, Abby Entner and Seneca Craig.

And she’s not above a little bit of gushing on behalf of her students. “The works are just beautiful,” she said. “It was a beautiful show.”

The work on display for the high school retrospectives includes paintings, drawings, pottery and photography. And the quality of the work is a testament to a dedicated group of teachers in the school’s art department, said Ms. Frame.

“The four of us are very open people,” she said of her fellow art teachers Scott Campbell, Chris Baer and Paul Brissette. “We have a sense of commitment to kids.” Together, the four teachers do their best to push forward what talent they see in each student, in an open and nonthreatening environment. “I think the atmosphere and the climate in the classrooms lends itself to open discussion and learning beyond the art,” said Ms. Frame.

Some of the students take an art course or two in high school and move on, but others, like those featured in the Featherstone show, develop a true passion for their work, with a little help from their teachers.

Ms. Frame’s teaching style relies on foundation, structure and a disciplined knowledge of the fundamentals of drawing and painting, which she said helps students to develop their individual talents. “When you start that in freshman year, by the time they get to [12th grade], they’re off and rolling,” she said.

And for the past two years, a handful of select seniors have been given the chance to channel their passion into the late winter collectives at Featherstone. There isn’t a formula for choosing which students are invited to show; the art teachers pick based on a combination of their talent and goals. “You just know who would be good at this, and who needs the experience, by knowing the kids,” said Ms. Frame, adding:

“They find their sense of self here. The thing is, they don’t realize it yet, but [art] is a passion for them. And some of them will leave the passion, but they always come back.”

The current student retrospective will be on display at Featherstone until Sunday, followed by a week-long paper and pottery exhibition of works by other high school art students.