Placing a ribbon on the corner of a drawing, a judge makes their final decisions on who the first place recipient will be in that group. For over 20 years, each art student has been required to submit at least one piece to be judged for the art show. Differing from the district art show, this one only displays work from current high schoolers. This allows for more work of the students to be displayed for a longer period of time.

“It is important for all of them to get represented in the show and to get show experience,” art teacher Teresa Moss said. “The show helps build their confidence as an artist. By being around art for a long time, you know what is good and what is bad. You develop an appreciation for how difficult things can be and when something catches your eye there is something different that you have never seen before. It attracts you initially, if it draws you in that strongly there is a reason and that is what is what they are looking for.”

The content of the show can be chosen by the student. Each student being able to submit as many pieces as they want that were created in class that year.

“My favorite piece out of the five that I have submitted is my book sculpture,” junior Lily Bargabus said. “It is something different than what I usually do, which is usually paintings. Our assignment for this piece was to pick five similar things and one has to be different. I knew I wanted to do butterflies so I could capture the form of them flying. They feel creative to me, they are the same animal but they have different colors and forms. I think showing work in general allows people to show different forms of creativity and see what is going through people’s minds. When people do art they are showing what they were thinking or feeling at one time.”

Moss and fellow art teacher Kristen McDowell both are able to submit artist’s pieces also. They are displayed the same as if the student submitted it. Art students encourage peers to look at the displays in the Media Center throughout the week.

“I submitted three works personally and Mrs. Moss submitted whatever she thought looked cool,” senior Brandon Emmons said. “I really don’t know on that end. I’m in two art classes this year, “advanced art” and “sculpture, drawing and painting” hence why I have so many pieces. A large factor to me is how other people liked it. It means a lot to me when someone out of the blue says, “wow that’s really good”. I think people should go to the art show/media center to see the art their peers made. A lot of time and effort goes into creating works of art and people like getting recognition for their hard work. I mean I know I do. Even if it’s not for long and someone just skims by it still means that they took time out of their day to admire something somebody in the school made.

Each class period receives first, second, third and honorable mentions. Even though students may choose more pieces of different forms, they are all judged under the same group. Other than the competition, the art pieces are displayed for the student body, and faculty to view.

“The judges that I picked are currently teachers at the high school that teach art classes,” Moss said. “Like Art Foundations, AP Art and IB Art. So when it comes to judging they are really going to be knowledgeable because they know what we are teaching in our classes, with 20 years or more experience.”

The high school art show will be held on April 27 at 6 p.m.. The artwork will be kept in the Media Center until May 1 for student and faculty viewing. The district art show will be held on May 11 at 6 p.m..PHOTO Maya Mead