Niles North Artists To Vie For $88M At Illinois High School Art Exhibition

From Niles Township High Schools District 219:

February 27, 2020

Congratulations to the Niles North artists that will have their work included in the Illinois High School Art Exhibition, which opens on Sunday, March 8 at the Zhou B Art Center and Bridgeport Art Center.

The best student artists from approximately 100+ Illinois high schools will converge at the 8th annual Illinois High School Art Exhibition (IHSAE) to showcase their art and vie for more than $88 million in college scholarships. Alaiza Arcega, Charlie Northway, Zeke Cordeiro, Sophia Gonzalez, Safeena Khan, Kieran Micari-Lawless, Helga Vigh, J’Lyn Wilson and Olivia Yoshioka have received over $1.2 million in scholarship offers with more scholarships still being processed. Included in the Senior Show are Zeke Cordeiro, Safeena Khan, Kieran Micari-Lawless, Helga Vigh and Olivia Yoshioka. The Senior Show runs from Monday, March 2 through Saturday, April 4 at the Bridgeport Art Center, 1200 W. 35th Avenue, Chicago.

More than 4,000 students, teachers, parents, college representatives, school district administrators, and guests are expected to attend the state’s largest high school student art exhibition that is also widely considered the gold standard among high school student art exhibitions nationwide.

A public opening will be hosted on Sunday, March 8 from 11am to 6pm at the Bridgeport Art Center. The IHSAE features several unique programs for high school art students and K- 12 Art Educators throughout the year. The first of many events is the IHSAE’s General Exhibition; a “Best of the Best” Show featuring over 800 works of art, in 8 distinct categories, from Illinois suburban, public and private high schools along with a Vendor & Career Expo. The BAC will also host the IHSAE’s signature events: the awards ceremonies, early college scholarship announcements, college recruitment fair and senior scholarship announcements. The Senior Scholarship Exhibition will exhibit some 350 senior artworks and recognize scholarship offers totaling over $88 million dollars. IHSAE has partnered with more than 40 art schools, colleges and universities from across the nation; most of which, will be on hand to meet with students and parents at the College Recruitment Fair, running from 10am to 2pm.

“Started in 2013, the IHSAE is 100% powered by teacher volunteers and has grown out of the passion they bring to making a difference for students, and has since facilitated $192 million in tuition scholarships cumulatively for more than 1,500 students. The IHSAE advocates those extra efforts with exhibitions and other incentives for creative exploration and connections to innovative careers,” said Chris Sykora, co-creator of IHSAE.

About the IHSAE

The Illinois High School Art Exhibition is a not-for-profit with a mission to enhance the creative educational landscape, giving student and teacher artists agency to succeed by connecting them to a variety of remarkable exhibitions, opportunities, and programs, while advocating for and reinforcing the power of art in their lives. Developed by teachers for students, the organization is run by full-time art educators who collaborate with corporate sponsors, art schools/colleges/universities, and participating city, suburban, public and private high schools to celebrate and award the artistic talents of Illinois high school art students. The IHSAE cultivates further connections through a variety of programs, such as the Art Educator and Central Illinois High School Art Exhibitions, Small Works Show, IHSAE Traveling Show, Mini-Art Throwdown, Mini-Portfolio Days, Blick in-store events, presentations for art teachers at venues such as School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Art Education Association Conference, school programming support, collaborative connections with Illinois School Boards, Art Educator Grants and more. For more information, go to www.ihsae.org.

This press release was produced by Niles Township High Schools District 219. The views expressed here are the author’s own.