This year’s Art Happening at the Pelham Art Center gave teen creators and other residents a glimpse into the life of a professional artist.

On July 29, the center’s Teen Artist Council led the event, staged within the courtyard. It showcased and sold local teenagers’ artwork, including works of those who completed the center’s six-month-long internship program. Community members enjoyed live mural paintings by students enrolled in the Teen Open Studio program, as well as other local teen art and the use of free paint and spray chalk.

“The idea that you could be expressing yourself and someone will see that, and you could share that expression, and you can share that emotion, you can share your viewpoint, your feelings if they are abstract, figurative or social-political activist, whatever they are any time of messaging, can be found through art,” said Charlotte Mouquin, the executor director of the Pelham Art Center.

The event was also a farewell party for Fiona Agababian, the center’s teen engagement coordinator.

“It’s a good time to celebrate all the teenagers involved,” said Agababian. “I think it’s important for kids to have an environment to just be creative.”

The outdoor festival named the Pelham Art Happening dates back to an event in April 1970 that planted the seed for the opening of the Pelham Art Center in 1985.

Mouquin said “one of the most rewarding things for me with all of these teen programs is watching meaningful friendships get built, especially with teens who don’t live near each other and wouldn’t have met each other otherwise, and to watch them becoming real friends. That’s the most beautiful thing.”