Students Win $10K at Museums of Los Gatos' High School Art Exhibit

• painting
• photography
• drawing and prints
• mixed media
• new media
• 3D-sculpture and ceramics.

A “People’s Choice” award will be determined by public voting online through the Museums' Facebook page and in person through the duration of the exhibition. The winner will be announced on the Museums' website and on Facebook after the exhibition closes, May 5.The Museums received entries from students representing 23 Santa Clara county high schools. A panel of three jurors selected the 70 works exhibited. The jurors, all artist/educators, were:

• Kenny Mencher, professor of art at Ohlone College;
• Lynn Powers, artist and former lecturer at San Jose State University;
• James Morgan, instructor in digital media, San Jose State University.

Exhibit sponsors were the Mike and Alyce Parsons Foundation, University Art, Heritage Bank, Del Grande Auto Group, Saratoga Rotary, Los Gatos Morning Rotary and The Waitte Foundation.“The Museum is proud to host such an impressive group of talented artists in an ever expanding circle of Santa Clara Valley high schools,” said Museum Director John Agg.  “The quality of work and the variety of creative ideas and media was everything one could have wanted, congratulations.”Added juror James Morgan, “I have been teaching digital media art for six years now and worked in the space for another decade. I was impressed by the quality and variety of works that were submitted. We were faced with difficult decisions in the jurying process because of the skill, content, and the experimental and expressive nature of the work presented.” Next year’s exhibition theme and dates will be announced early September 2013. The winners by category are:Painting:

• 1st place: Connor Church, Homestead High School
• 2nd place: Stephany Sanchez-Perez, Del Mar High School

Photography:

• 1st place:  Elizabeth Fuchs, Los Altos High School
• 2nd place: Fiona Stolorz, Los Altos High School

Drawing & Prints:

• 1st place:  Gabriela Taccir, Leigh High School
• 2nd place:  Freja Mickos, Los Altos High School

Sculpture/Ceramics:

• 1st place: Alissa Wilson, Ann Sobrato High School
• 2nd place: Taylor Groves, Homestead High School

Mixed Media:

• 1st place: Samir Kothari, Palo Alto High School
• 2nd place: Chaieun Lee, Westmont High School

New Media

• 1st place:  Phoenix Suranofsky, Westmont High School
• 2nd place:  Catherine Huang, Homestead High School

HIGH SCHOOL WINNERS BY COMMUNITIES AND HIGH SCHOOLS(Sunnyvale)Fremont High School senior Danielle Chan won Best in Show and a $5,000 scholarship award. Museum. Her winning piece, titled, The Future is Encrypted, was selected from the 70 artworks that had been juried into the show from 450 submissions.(Cupertino)Three Homestead High School students earned awards. Connor Church placed first in Painting; Taylor Groves and Catherine Huang placed second in 3d-Ceramics and New Media respectively.(Los Altos)Three Los Altos High School students earned awards. Sweeping the Photography category Elizabeth Fuchs earned first prize; Fiona Stolorz placed second. Freja Mickos placed second in the Drawing/Prints category.(Palo Alto)Palo Alto High School student Samir Kothari earned a first place in the Mixed Media category.(Campbell)Two Westmont High School students earned awards. Phoenix Suranofsky earned a first place in New Media; Chaieun Lee earned a second place in Mixed Media.(Morgan Hill)Alissa Wilson of Ann Sobrato High School won first place in the 3D Sculpture and Ceramics category. (San Jose)Gabriela Taccir, Leigh High School won first place in the Drawing/Prints category.  Stephany Sanchez-Perez at Del Mar High School placed second in Painting.  Students of Jeanne Aikman at Pioneer High School had the largest submission, an 8-foot sculpture built from discarded telephones.