News

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Students to be Recognized at March 5 Grandparent Show

Students from throughout the Santa Barbara High School District will be honored at the Faulkner Gallery on Thursday, March 5, for their award-winning art. There will be a special awards presentation at 6pm. Called the Grandparent Show, the event is sponsored by the Santa Barbara Art Association’s Student Art Fund. The competition was open to all secondary art students. The fund was established in 2006 by 19 retired local art teachers to supplement art supplies and give support to public junior high and high school art classes in the South Coast. Donations are divided equally amount Carpinteria, Goleta, and Santa Barbara art classes.

Students were asked to depict a grandparent or significant elder in their personal life. “The Grandparent Portrait project is one that connects students with their family roots and pride,” said retired teacher Audie Love. The students responded for the call for artwork with sculpture, prints, digital art, photography, or paintings. The images will be on display through March 25.

Rita Ferri, visual arts coordinator and curator of collections of the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, juried the show. There were 400 entries. Ms. Ferri narrowed choices down to 118 finalists whose work will be on display in the Faulkner exhibit. She then selected 12 recipients for awards of excellence, 11 are from the Santa Barbara High School District. Those award winners (and each student’s teacher) are shown below:

• Gigi Hadid, Santa Barbara Junior High (John Houchin) / Bonnie Hill Award
• Benjamin Pineda, Santa Barbara Junior High (John Houchin) / DeSha Family Award
• Paisha Fellows, Dos Pueblos High (Claire d'Anthes) / S.B. Printmakers Award
• Celina Garcia, Dos Pueblos High (Claire d'Anthes) / Rotary Club of S.B. North Award
• Yibing Zhang, Dos Pueblos High (Claire d'Anthes) / Montecito Bank & Trust Award
• Kristen Cummings, Dos Pueblos High (Kevin Gleason) / Goleta Valley Art Association Award
• Helen McKirahan, Dos Pueblos High (Kevin Gleason) / Prigge Family Award
• Timmy Bolton, Dos Pueblos High (Diana Hemsley) / Santa Barbar Art Association Best of Show
• Sarah Iuele, Santa Barbara High (Brooke Van Der Kar) / Patty Look Lewis Gallery Award
• Amanda Nelson, Santa Barbara High (Brooke Van Der Kar) / James Main Fine Art Award
• Cindy Solis, Santa Barbara High (Hania Geremia) / Tom & Willa Mann Award

The Faulker Gallery is located in the Santa Barbara Public Library, 40 E. Anapamu, Santa Barbara, CA.