Morgan Hill’s first annual student art exhibition brought 48 works by local high-school students to Colibri Gallery in 2023.
The juried exhibition was open to pupils in Grades 9 to 12 attending public, private and home schools.
Technical skill beside experimentation
Nearly 100 submissions were reviewed by artists Marlene Amerian and Lydia Rae Black. The selected works were recognised for technical quality, expression and willingness to take risks.
Gwyneth Zhao received Best in Show for an untitled digital work.
In the two-dimensional category, Milla Davydov won first place for Alter Ego. Tess Kaefer received second place for an acrylic painting, and Verose Deslonde took third place for Hoo.
Kimberly Meyberg won the three-dimensional category with the ceramic work The Product of Human Consideration. Roberta Wu received second place for a fabric-and-paper sculpture, while Zelma Cisneros placed third with Be Careful What You Wish For.
A gallery platform during Youth Art Month
Honourable mentions went to Justin Aragaki for a photographic self-portrait, Frankie Novick for a mixed-media drawing and Alexa Darwood for the ceramic tea set Bone Apple Tea.
Colibri Art and Framing professionally framed the two-dimensional works, giving the students experience of how presentation changes the public reception of an image.
The gallery planned to repeat the exhibition each March during National Youth Art Month.
The project’s importance lay in moving student work beyond classroom assessment. Selection, framing, awards and public display introduced young artists to the practical conditions of exhibiting while allowing the community to see the range of work developing in local schools.