Royal student entry advances in prep art competitions
Royal High sophomore artist Ariana Cruz, left, and Royal High senior artist Samantha Eilers with their winning pieces and Royal High art instructor Michael Holmes.
ROYAL CITY - Five pieces by ESD 105 area high school artists, including one from Royal, will be advancing to OSPI's statewide Superintendent's High School Art Show later this spring.
They were chosen as standouts among the 80 entries in this year's ESD 105 Regional High School Art Show in Yakima.
The juror for this year's regional show was Carolyn Nelson, who chairs the art department at Heritage University in Toppenish. Entries were judged on mastery of the medium, composition, and creativity.
The winning entries for the 2015 regional show were announced during the opening reception on March 8 at JA World in Yakima.
"Echo", a ceramic sculpture by Royal High School senior Samantha Eilers made the cut for state. Eilers is a student of teacher Michael Holmes.
This is the sixth consecutive year that Royal has had at least one entry advance to the state show. In addition to the six-year streak, students from Michael Holmes' classes have had art advance to the state show for 9 of the past 10 years.
With this latest award, Holmes' students have accounted for 13 entries at OSPI's show from 2006 through 2015.
The other pieces from ESD 105 to advance include "Memorial", a pencil art by Toppenish High School sophomore Monica Sanchez. Also advancing is "Aurora", a charcoal and sharpie marker art by West Valley High School senior Lindsay Soules.
"May I Mask You A Question?," a color pencil art by Wapato High School junior Hunter Staples, is advancing. And so is "Autumn," an acrylic painting by Sunnyside High School senior Yvonne Hernandez.
The OSPI's statewide show will be on display from April 6 through May 28 at the Old Capitol Building in Olympia. The awards reception for the state exhibit will be held May 14 from 1-3 p.m. Awards of $200 cash purchases are expected to be given to 15 of the entries at the state show.
In addition to the five winners who advance to the state exhibit, two students at the Regional Show received the ESD 105 Board Choice Award.
Each of those entries were selected to be purchased for a cash award of $250 by the ESD 105 Board of Directors. They join 30 other pieces in a collection of past years' student art on permanent display at the ESD 105 Conference Center in Yakima.
"Portrait During Harvest" - digital photography by Royal High School sophomore Ariana Cruz, a student of Michael Holmes, was chosen. Holmes had two students receive this award in 2013.
The Regional Show is sponsored by ESD 105 and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction as a means to support arts education and provide a venue for student artists to showcase their works.