COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - The Glimmerglass Festival, with cooperation from The Smithy-Pioneer Gallery, is celebrating National Opera Week, October 29 through November 7, with OPERA-tion Arts, a free education initiative that translates what area second grade students learn about opera into visual art.

In preparation of National Opera Week, Glimmerglass staff members joined second grade classes at Cherry Valley-Springfield, Cooperstown, Milford and Richfield Springs central schools to offer a multi-media presentation on opera. The students illustrated their impressions of opera on 8" squares of cardstock, which will be displayed at The Smithy-Pioneer Gallery on Pioneer Street in Cooperstown October 29 through November 7 to acknowledge National Opera Week.

To culminate the week, The Smithy and Glimmerglass will host a free reception on Friday, November 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. 2010 Young Artist J'nai Bridges will perform at 7 p.m., offering a preview of Glimmerglass's 2011 summer production of Carmen.

Organized by OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Opera Week is meant to recognize the vitality of opera in America. National Opera Week will be celebrated from coast to coast as opera companies offer a range of free public programs that demonstrate the accessibility of the art form. For more information about National Opera Week events around the country, visit www.operaamerica.org/now.

Follow the National Opera Week conversation on Twitter with #operaweek.