After reviewing all works for acceptance, our jury team carefully considered each submission for awards. The jurors ensured that each artwork met technical and media skills, including composition, color, and design. Then they observed each work for a unique sense of creativity to make sure the work portrayed the artist's voice. Students who chose to give some insight into how or why they created the work in their application demonstrated exemplary artists' professional practices.
Honorable Mention
$200 scholarship
Krisstina Rose Tarbell
Sepulcre de Liberte (Liberty’s Tomb)
air dry clay
"I have been to their cities of the dead in Paris: Père Lachaise, Montmartre, and Montparnasse, where the French have buried their famous artists, philosophers, and revolutionaries, and I imagine that if traditional Frenchmen saw their centuries-long understanding of freedom laid to rest, they would entomb it with those whose lives defined it. Therefore, I created a relief sculpture in four separate architectural elements that, when combined, create a tomb in the style of the Parisian mausoleums."
Honorable Mention
$200 scholarship
Yari Dvir
Maiden Voyage
oil on canvas
"Maiden Voyage is a fusion of my affinity for the landscape and my surrealist tendencies. My goal was to distort what a landscape meant to me in a way that remained compositionally harmonious. I utilized the palette knife painting technique for sharp and organic textures and two-color centers to isolate the composition further."
Honorable Mention
$200 scholarship
Ella McGechie
Edison
digital photograph
"This photograph of a neon sign in Casa Grande, Arizona, uses differently exposed images to capture high dynamic range."
Honorable Mention
$200 scholarship
Rachel Hawthorne
Ma'ma
mixed media
"Ma'ma illustrates the upbringing of a child in a space where exploration of one's surroundings and self were always constantly encouraged. My mother's dream was to always raise a daughter, but a daughter she could teach to be strong in one's creative ability. She would leave an array of colors in different mediums just for me to be mischievous with, and she'd let my hands glide on every surface in her studio to see what new curiosity I would discover. I am the artist and woman I am today, because of a mother who allowed her child to be creatively free."
Honorable Mention
$200 scholarship
Meibelin Vasquez Rios
Spring Day
ceramic
"Spring Day is a wheel-thrown piece. To create the handmade creatures of nature, I used underglazes. Like a fresh and alive spring day, this piece makes me happy."
Juror's Award
$250 scholarship
Alicia Ortiz
Before Your Eyes
animation
"I made a timelapse of flipping through a book for this art piece, and then I put the polaroid outline over it. I thought about how flipping through a book, the plot uncovers itself to the reader, polaroids take time to develop the picture, and the meaning of an artwork is revealed to an aesthete."
Juror's Award
$250 scholarship
Raneem Mouslli
Stuffed Leaves
graphic design
"I used this infographic design to demonstrate a recipe for stuffed leaves a popular dish that varies in ingredients in different parts of the world."
Juror's Award
$250 scholarship
Brenda Kochevar
Swimming In Disinfectant
digital photograph
"I was hired in June 2020 as a Pool Monitor to enforce local, state, and federal COVID-19 laws and sanitize equipment at a local community pool. Almost a year later and hundreds of gallons of disinfectant later, it sometimes feels like I am swimming in disinfectant. Using my photographs, I created an overlay of the disinfectant label and placed it onto the swimming pool water using Photoshop."
Juror's Award
$250 scholarship
Morgan Spatola
Lightning Nude
digital photograph
"I used manual lighting techniques and prolonged exposure to create surreal effects on the model's body in this photo. I wanted to develop a sense of voyeurism between the subject and viewer, a sense of glimpsing a woman through the darkness. The red lines of light on the model's body physically lead the viewer's gaze through the photograph, forcing them to look over her body and appraise her in detail."
Juror's Award
$250 scholarship
Jacqueline Toro
Valentine's Studio Portrait
oil on canvas
"This painting was my second ever studio painting after a year of drawing at the studio. I painted this work on Valentine's Day; the model wore red clothing and jewelry to set the scene."
Juror's Award
$250 scholarship
Lloyd Kent
Mobius Arch
digital photograph
"I got up early before the sun came up. Drove to the trailhead and hiked up to the Arch in the dark. Set up my camera on the tripod as the sky started to lighten up. The sun came up behind me (the camera is facing West) and lit up the mountains. The Arch from this vantage frames Mt. Whitney. I love the way the black and white turned out - I think it looks mysterious."
Third Place
$400 scholarship
Big City Hermit
Impreach 2020
Digital Composite image from news photos and Tintoretto's Crucifixion
"In the past five years, we have seen increased propaganda activity against the citizenry by political parties, the news media, and operatives. To start resistance and then shut one down before it starts is very Iron Curtain, but the irony is lost. When people cant freely express themselves...well, you know what happens in that scenario. Both sides believe theirs is the truth, echoing religious wars. Both political parties are equally dirty, yet in them, we sanctify ourselves and condemn each other. The opposite is truth, and it always has been, ever since man exchanged vote and coin. The people are alright. It's the politicians who keep getting us in trouble."
Second Place
$450 scholarship
Keri Schneider
Guardian
fiber art
"I began my work in March of 2020. Over time it evolved as the pandemic progressed. I felt my worries and concerns come to life with each stitch. She was anticipating spring’s arrival in her desert homeland. She dressed for spring, and her pottery spilled forth with cactus and blooms. Soon the vessel became infected with Covid viruses. Behind her, the news of Covid’s rapid spread across the globe became evident as red dots marked the surface of many countries. More dots and more infection. Darkness and fear came, settling at her feet in the shadow beneath her dress. She is hope, full of light and color. Holy, angelic, pure, calm, present, knowing, and respectful. She is human and sensible, holding her pure white face mask and the vision of a protector with her white halo. One cactus paddle remains protected in white while she has our infected earth encircled in a rainbow of ROYGBIV color. She is a “Guardian” during a long and challenging time."
Best in Show
$500 scholarship
Raena Kline
Mortality
digital photograph
"This photograph is important because it is a prominent landmark in my brief history as an artist. I am inspired by photography's potential to truly capture movement and how this movement can evoke feelings in the viewer. Before this photograph, I could not capture motion in a way that could potentially affect the emotions of others."