Nearly $135,000 in potential scholarships and other prizes were presented to middle and high school student artists at the eighth annual Clackamas Education Service District Regional Art Show awards ceremony.
Lake Oswego High School senior Atticus Perry won “Best in Show” honors for his sculpture “Bone Dry.” Perry also took home 12th grade first-place honors.
The awards ceremony, held at the Clackamas ESD administrative building on April 25, honored the nearly 200 students in nine Clackamas County school districts who submitted artworks to this year’s show.
More than 40 juried and special awards were presented during the ceremony, which was preceded by a reception for student artists and their teachers and families. The generous prizes offered to students were made possible by the sponsorship of Pacific Northwest College of Art, Clackamas Community College, Venvino Art Studios and Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts.
Perry earned multiple prizes for his two wins, including thousands of dollars in scholarships from PNCA; a four-credit tuition waiver from Clackamas Community College; gift cards from Venvino Art Studios and Blick Art Materials; the opportunity to showcase his art in the upcoming Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts Youth Exhibit; and miscellaneous art supplies.
Lake Oswego and Wilsonville high schools were other big winners in the show, with seven students at each of those schools taking home grade-level awards. Wilsonville High School students also earned four of the seven “Art Speaks” awards presented for pieces judges identified as having particularly powerful messages.
Brooke Thomsen, a West Linn High School junior, won the Staff Choice Award, voted on by employees of Clackamas ESD. The ESD will purchase Thomsen’s digital drawing “Delicate Duo” and keep it on permanent display.
Other top high school winners included:
- Hanna Faroghi of Lake Oswego High School, who won first-place 11th grade honors for her painting “Natural History Museum.”
- True Williams of Wilsonville High School, who placed first at 10th grade for her acrylic painting “Trying to Remember.”
- Travin Lindsay of West Linn High School, who won the top award in 9th grade for her acrylic painting “Sunday Morning.”
- Lara Stiehler, a senior at Lake Oswego High School, who won the Jada Rupley Superintendent’s Choice Award for her photograph, “When the World Stops – Silence.” The award is named in honor of Clackamas ESD Regional Art Show founder and retired superintendent Jada Rupley, and its recipient was selected by current superintendent Larry Didway. The ESD will purchase Stiehler’s photograph for permanent display.
All high school winners received varying levels of PNCA scholarships; gift cards from Venvino Art Studios; the opportunity to showcase their art in the youth exhibit at this summer’s Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts; sketchbooks; and notecards featuring their work. The three top winners in 10th, 11th and 12th grades also received Clackamas Community College single-class tuition waivers.
At the middle school level, students at Inza R. Wood Middle School in Wilsonville swept first place honors at all three grade levels:
- Adina Lozovan and Julia Weigel tied for first place at eighth grade with Lozovan’s colored pencil and pen portrait “Through Unity, We Blossom” and Weigel’s glass bead jewelry creations titled “Necklaces Inspired by Neurodivergent Representation in Film.”
- Sawyer Brooks won top honors at 7th grade for his painting “Together We Rise” that invites viewers to collaborate on the artwork.
- Avery Cottom took first place at 6th grade for her acrylic painting “Where the Desert Meets the Sea.”
Middle school winners received Venvino Art Studios gift cards; the opportunity to showcase their art in the youth exhibit at this summer’s Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts; sketchbooks; and notecards featuring their work.
Clackamas ESD asked each art show adjudicator to select a piece that conveyed the strongest message. In addition to the submission by eighth grade first-place award winner Adina Lozovan, six other artworks were selected for these “Art Speaks” awards by judges:
- “Tied Together,” a multimedia piece by Mia Garcia of Wilsonville High School
- “Memories,” an acrylic painting by Ava Katz of Wilsonville High School
- An untitled acrylic painting by Josephine Peykanu of Wilsonville High School
- “Tom Thumb Wedding,” an acrylic painting by Nikash Bajpai of Wilsonville High School
- “Strange Fruit,” a painting on wood by Kylee Turner of Oregon City High School
- “Consequences,” an ink and marker drawing by Jack Johnston of West Linn High School
A complete list of winning students and their artwork can be found in the slideshow above.
“It’s such an honor to be able to showcase and honor the wonderful artistic talent that is being nurtured in our Clackamas County schools,” said Clackamas ESD Superintendent Larry Didway. “The art show is months in the making, and I appreciate the dedicated team that makes it happen. I’m deeply grateful to our generous sponsors – PNCA, Clackamas Community College, Venvino Art Studios and Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts – and to the nine professional artists who dedicated countless hours to adjudicating our entries.
“Our participating students and teachers deserve the greatest thanks. More than 40 teachers took the time to curate, prep and submit art produced in their classrooms, and 193 students at seven grade levels shared their artistic creativity with us. Walking through the show or viewing it online is an opportunity to view all aspects of our lived experience through students’ eyes. It truly is humbling, heartening and thought-provoking to witness all the messages students are conveying through their art.”
The 2024 Clackamas ESD Regional Art Show is open until April 30, and the virtual gallery will remain online.
