Bay High students win top prizes at prestigious Beachwood Arts Council competition

Bay High junior Joe Strunk and sophomore Elizabeth Auckley took home top prizes from the prestigious Beachwood Arts Council’s 17th Annual Juried High School Student Art Show. Auckley received a $75 prize for the show's second-place entry, her watercolor on paper construction, “My World.” Strunk received a $50 prize for his third-place piece, “A Skaters Self-Portrait/Skateboards I Have Broken.” Bay High junior Cameron Meakin and sophomore Grace Veres also had work accepted into the competition.

The show featured the work of eighty students from 20 Cleveland-area schools. The top-notch team of judges included: Grafton J. Nunes, president and chief executive officer of the Cleveland Institute of Art; Steve Hartman, owner of Contessa Gallery; and George Kozmon, artist and festival director for the Cain Park Arts Festival.

The exhibition will be on view at the Beachwood Community Center, 25225 Fairmount Blvd., through Feb. 26. As a special recognition, juror Steve Hartman will be exhibiting the first, second and third place award-winning artworks, from March 2 to 25, at Contessa Gallery, Legacy Village, 24667 Cedar Rd., in Lyndhurst.

For the seventeenth year, The Beachwood Arts Council has been fortunate to bring together students, teachers and friends of the arts throughout Cleveland for this unique, cultural experience. This project aims to endorse art in the schools and to encourage creative expression, hone artistic skills and promote professionalism among high school art students through the experience of a competitive juried exhibition. Through creative competition, the students are able to define their talents as they relate to their peers across the community.

The students were asked to provide work that “must express originality, craftsmanship and the students’ personal view of his or her world.”

The eight prize-winning artists received monetary awards made possible by a generous gift from Marcia Emsheimer, trustee of the Louis M. Emsheimer Fund. Participants who attended the award ceremony also received a cash stipend.

“The exemplary and high quality of the work included in the show truly represents the breadth and diversity of our students across the Greater Cleveland area,” said Ileen Kelner, veteran member of the Beachwood Arts Council and co-chair of this year’s event.