The Stark Museum of Art will honor 108 local student artists on April 4, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The student artists are featured in this year’s juried student art exhibition, “This Land Was Made for You and Me.” The reception will include light refreshments, a special performance by the LCM Jazz Band and an award ceremony. Family, friends and neighbors are encouraged to join the museum in celebrating the student artists’ achievements.
For this year’s exhibition, student artists were asked to create an original work depicting an image inspired by the lakes, prairies, mountains, coasts or deserts of the United States of America. The museum received over 400 entries from K-12 students across Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. Each entry was judged by museum staff on five criteria: skillful use of chosen medium commensurate with artist’s grade level, composition and design, artist statement, impact of the image and creativity.
All entries were carefully considered by a team of museum staff, and the best entries were selected to be matted, framed and hung for the exhibition. This year’s exhibition features artwork from 14 campuses: Bridge City Intermediate, Bridge City Middle School, Bridge City High School, Buna Junior High School, Lighthouse Homeschool Co-Op, Orangefield High School, Port Neches-Groves High School, St. Mary Catholic School, St. Louis Catholic High School, Sabine Pass High School, Sam Houston High School, Vidor Middle School, West Orange Stark Elementary and West Orange Stark High School.
In addition to recognizing all featured student artists, the museum will also present special awards during the reception for outstanding works in the exhibition. Two special awards will be given: Merit and Director’s Choice Awards. Merit Awards will be presented to students receiving the highest scores from the team of judges. The Director’s Choice Awards will be presented to students selected for outstanding achievement by Trina Nelson Thomas, director of art and history venues. A full list of award winners is available online at starkmuseum.org.
“Each year I am overwhelmed by the amount of talent and creativity that our local students display in their entries,” said Jennifer Restauri Dickinson, curator of education. “I am so excited for students, teachers, family and friends to visit the exhibition in the new Walter G. Riedel III Education Center and to celebrate the students during the reception.”
The student artwork will be on view in the Community Gallery located in the Walter G. Riedel III Education Center until June 2.
Stark Museum of Art is located at 712 Green Ave. in Orange and is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more, visit starkmuseum.org.
Merit Award Winners
K-2 Merit Award Winners
· Matthew Nguyen, St. Mary Catholic School
· Paris Dugas, St. Mary Catholic School
3-5 Merit Award Winners
· Michelle Hamilton, Bridge City Intermediate
· Abigail C. Bodin, St. Mary Catholic School
· Allie Broussard, St. Mary Catholic School
· Kinsley Doucet, St. Mary Catholic School
· Catherine Tam Doan, St. Mary Catholic School
· Paige McKee, St. Mary Catholic School
· Grace Wimberley, St. Mary Catholic School
· Hannah Allison, St. Mary Catholic School
6-8 Merit Award Winners
· Ava Gassen, Bridge City Middle School
· Samuel Kulovitz, Bridge City Middle School
· Samara McMullan, Bridge City Middle School
· Reesie Ryder, Bridge City Middle School
· Chelsi Gore, Buna Junior High
· Marissa Menard, Buna Junior High
· Josie Beck, Lighthouse Homeschool Co-op
· Andi Drake, Lighthouse Homeschool Co-op
· Verck Rincon, St. Mary Catholic School
· Madelyn Smith, St. Mary Catholic School
· Maggie Granger, St. Mary Catholic School
· Jessica Hughes, St. Mary Catholic School
9-12 Merit Award Winners
· Diana Barriga, Bridge City High School
· Andrea Chavez, Bridge City High School
· Marc Story, Bridge City High School
· Hannah Huff, Bridge City High School
· Jaelyn Nichols, Bridge City High School
· Lauren Jordan, Port Neches-Groves High School
· Alexis Copeland, Orangefield High School
· Narica Edwards, St. Louis Catholic High School
· Adam Verrett, St. Louis Catholic High School
· Lauren Nichole Gray, Sam Houston High School
· Lizbeth Terrazas, Sabine Pass High School
· Elijah Reynolds, West Orange Stark High School
· Monica Vasquez, West Orange Stark High School
Director’s Choice Awards
K-2 Director’s Choice Awards
· Kirra Jaarah, St. Mary Catholic School
· Conner LeJuhm, St. Mary Catholic School
· E’Deric Boone, West Orange Stark Elementary
3-5 Director’s Choice Awards
· Eizabeth Khatt, St. Mary Catholic School
· Thomasina Nguyen, St. Mary Catholic School
· Jeremy Finister, West Orange Stark Elementary
6-9 Director’s Choice Awards
· Kayson Hebert, Bridge City Middle School
· Kendall Phillips, St. Mary Catholic School
· Shayan Rahim, Bridge City Middle School
· Shyanne Nash, Buna Junior High School
9-12 Director’s Choice Awards
· Tuyen Le, Bridge City High School
· Malayna Motomorua, Bridge City High School
· Ben Burguieres, St. Louis Catholic High School
· Andrea Puerta, Sam Houston High School
· Cristlyn Harbert, Port Neches-Groves High School
· Moriah Manning, Port Neches-Groves High School