The Lamorinda Arts Council held a reception and awards ceremony in its 23rd annual High School Visual Arts Competition on March 19.  Students who attended school in Lamorinda won prizes of $300 for first place in each category and best of show, $200 for second place, $100 for third place and $50 for honorable mention. The high schools participating in the competition were Acalanes, Campolindo, Las Lomas, Miramonte, Bentley, Holden and Orinda Academy.

    Lilah Wold from the Bentley School won Best in Show for her 2D entry, “She’s Still There.” Winners in that category were: first place, Devin Volmer, “Misunderstanding The Storm” Campolindo; second place, Connor Dong, “The Agony of Privilege” Miramonte; third place, Addyson Stevens, “Our Mother” Acalanes and honorable mention, Angele Tseng, “Thank you Grandma” Campolindo.

    In the 3D category, the winners were: first place, Delia Depew Untitled, Bentley; second place, Kara Jitodai, “The Grip of Shame” Bentley; third place, Fay Yip, “What Remains” Bentley; and honorable mention, Calla Garrett, “Empty Space” Miramonte.

    The first place in Photography went to John Kim, “1/15th Of A Second in Your Life” Bentley. The other awards in that category were, second place, Mason Morant, “Her Name Was New York” Bentley; third place, Albert Bai, “Fragmented Identity” Bentley; and honorable mention, Brandon Benedict, “Watching Over The Valley” Miramonte.

    First place in the Digital Art category was awarded to Adler Benaman, “Burning Film” Bentley.  Also winning in that category were Zijin Xu, second place, “3NA Cast at the Bar” Campolindo; Jackson Tucker, third place, “Somewhere Along The Way” Orinda Academy; and Caitlin Kalmes, honorable mention, “glow” Acalanes. 

    The artworks were on display in the Orinda Library Gallery during the month of March. Professionals with experience in (practicing, teaching, or representing) the categories judged the competition. The criteria used for judging were: creativity and originality, content and the degree of expertise in the chosen medium. Any use of AI software was prohibited and warranted disqualification.

    All of the entries, including the winners, may be viewed on The Lamorinda Arts Council website at https://lamorindaarts.org/vac-galleries/