The inauguralCentral Illinois High School Art Exhibition presents 152 works by students at nine Central Illinois high schools. Art teachers submitted their students’ work in nine categories—drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, photography, design, time arts, printmaking, and mixed media—for consideration by jurors. Monetary prizes will be announced during the opening reception on June 1. Awards include Best in Show; 1st, 2nd, and 3rdplace; and honorable mention in each of the categories.
Participating schools and educators are:
Centennial High School, Champaign—Stacey Gross and Shannon Percoco
Central High School, Champaign—Carol-Lynn Comparetto, Ravyn Rodgers, and Enrika Stulpinaite-Maldonado
Dee-Mack High School, Deer Creek—Sam Ingram
Henry-Senachwine High School, Henry—Frank Bush
Lexington CUSD #7, Lexington—Emma Long
Mahomet-Seymour High School, Mahomet—Bess Lanker
Prairie Central High School, Fairbury—Casey McCullough
Tri-Valley High School, Downs—Rachel Angus
Washington Community High School, Washington—Jayme Banzhoff, Margaret Maldonado, and Darlene Pegg
The jurors are Kelly White and Matthew Boonstra. White is the Executive Director of 40 North | 88 West in Champaign County and the Project Coordinator for both Art & Sol and Sight Specific in downtown Champaign. She was previously the Assistant Curator and Collections Manager for the SCAD Museum of Art at Savannah College of Art and Design. Boonstra is an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Eastern Illinois University. His work has been exhibited at International Sculpture Center, Hamilton, New Jersey; Reese Museum, New Johnson, Tennessee; and Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The exhibition is co-sponsored by the Illinois Art Education Association and the Illinois Art Education Association Central Council and hosted by University Galleries of Illinois State University. Illinois High School Art Exhibition is a not-for-profit organization created and run by full-time educators. Its mission is “to advance art education for young people by providing art exhibition and education opportunities that celebrate students’ artistic achievement, promote mastery and ingenuity in learning, and facilitate post-secondary opportunities.”
In conjunction with the exhibition, onegallery will feature works created by the art teachers at the participating schools.