Record Number of Entries at Student Art Show

19th Annual Juried Student Art Show at the Leamington Arts Centre marked the approach of its midway point with its public awards ceremony, revealing the decisions made by judges following their lengthiest decision process thus far. This year’s Student Art Show included a combined 246 entries, surpassing the event’s record of 220 set last year. The total number of participating high school artists dipped slightly from 163 to 159 from 2016 to 2017, although the number of creators was still well up from the 2015 mark of 105. 

A panel of judges, included, retired art teachers, selected top three winners and an honourable mention for each of nine categories — sculpture, mixed medium, oil painting, acrylic painting, watercolour painting, drawing, digital il- lustration, photography and film.

The show is sponsored by the Leamington Rotary Club and Kiwanis Club, the former offering cash prizes of $25, $15 and $10 to the first, second and third place winners in the first eight categories, the latter offering $350, $250 and $150 prizes for the top three winners in the film division and both offering support to allow students to enter free of charge. Each top three entry and honourable mention also received a certificate. 

“It’s a record year and our sponsors, the Rotary Club and Kiwanis Club, are a big part of that,” explained LAC director Chad Riley. “The fact that we passed last year’s total is incredible. It took all our staff and volunteers to categorize, label, do inventory and lighting for this show.” 

Each year, the Student Art Show is the LAC’s largest exhibit, filling all three of the Talbot Street West facility’s three galleries. It is the centre’s only show larger than its photography exhibit in January and officially opened Tues- day, Apr. 4. The exhibit will wrap up Saturday, Apr. 29. 

The awards ceremony for this year’s Student Arts Show — presented by the South Essex Arts Association — was also well attended. A crowd of local art enthusiasts, judges, teachers and students from the eight participating Windsor- Essex high schools gathered in one of the centre’s three galleries to hear Riley announce the winners of each category Thursday, Apr. 13. Winners for each medium were declared as follows: 

Acrylic — Andrew Wiebe of Western Secondary (first for “Panning”), Isabel Gossen of Leamington District Secondary School (second for “10 Meters”), Thayue Paw Eh of LDSS (third for “Meditation”) and Anna Chadwick of Sandwich Secondary (honourable mention for “For Your Safety”); 

Oil — Courtney Gregorian of Sandwich Secondary (first for “Shiver”), Caroline Bemben of Cardinal Carter Catholic Secondary School (second for “Bliss”), Andrew Wiebe of Western Secondary (third for “Cabin”) and Marife Boycott of Sandwich Secondary (honourable mention for “Mauve Winter”); 

Watercolour — Spencer Ginn of Sandwich Second- ary (first for “Great Lake”), Marife Boycott of Sandwich Secondary (second for “Multi Colour Meyhem”), Megan Morency of Sandwich Secondary (third for “Fresh Air”) and Emme O’Rourke of Sandwich Secondary

Drawing — Corinne Garrett of Walkerville (first for “Dali Kahlo Van Gogh”), Camryn Bolohan of Walkerville (second for “A Madonna’s Marilyn”), Ashley Kerr of Sand- wich Secondary (third for “Rohrer’s Roar”) and Quinn Liang of Sandwich Secondary (honourable mention for “Seven”); 

Mixed medium — Mack Petro of Villanova (first for “Ejectionarphotoelectrons”), Allison Ware of LDSS (sec- ond for “Reality”), Ariel Shearer of Sandwich Secondary (third for “Shattered Self”) and Charie Canuto of Sandwich Secondary (honourable mention for “Reflected Past”); 

Sculpture — Kendra Bosse (first for “Emergence”), Olivia Conlon of Walkerville (second for “Music of Life”), Emma Litschko (third for “The Children”), Anthony Little of Sandwich Secondary (honourable mention for “Tower of Power”); 

Photography — Sydney Pruyn (first for “Take Me Out To The Ball Game”), Megan Morency of Sandwich Secondary (second for “Rainbow Daydream”), Rachel Montsch- Marentette of Sandwich Secondary (third for “Waasa-In- aabidaa”) and Sydney Cremasco (honourable mention for “My Inner Light, Self-Portrait”); 

Digital — Nick Dyck of LDSS (first for “Mask”), Victoria Brown of Sandwich Secondary (second for “Disbeleaf”), Charie Canuto of Sandwich Secondary (third for “Mother- land Memories”) and Andrew St. Denis of Sandwich Secondary (honourable mention for “Ocean View”); 

Film — Chanelle Pinard and Kenzie Selwood of LDSS (first for “To Be”), Hayden Moon of Essex District High School (second for “Hydrogen Slush”), Ashley Kerr of Sandwich Secondary (third for “White Flag”) and Hunter Lapain of EDHS (honourable mention for “After Hours”). 

The awards concluded with the presentation of the Future Artist Award by longtime LAC supporter Marg Ross on behalf of the late Don Ross. The award is granted to a student with plans to enter a post-secondary education in the arts and this year was awarded to Walkerville student Maria Jose. 

“I’m truly honoured,” said Jose, who’s Art by Maria Jose is featured at www.facebook.com/artistmariajose. “There’s so much talent in this exhibition. I’ve always had such a passion for art and to be recognised for that is truly amazing.” 

While Sandwich Secondary School students took home more awards and certificates than those of any other participating school, the local contingent of art on display for the show made several positive impressions. 

“Our kids have had such a fantastic year,” said LDSS art teacher Carrie Grossi, noting that senior art students put on an exhibit dubbed “Bloom” at the LAC in February. “It’s so exciting. It’s great for us to see what other students are doing — it helps us grow. We’re very pleased to be a part of the show.”