Please join us for the opening reception and awards ceremony for the Central Illinois High School Art Exhibition!

The inaugural Central 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 3rd place; 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, Urbana—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, one gallery will feature works created by the art teachers at the participating schools.

All events are free and open to the public. Contact gallery@ilstu.edu or 309.438.5487 to schedule exhibition tours.

University Galleries is located at Uptown Station at the corner of Beaufort and Broadway streets. Parking is available directly above in the Uptown Station parking deck, and the first hour is free, as well as any time after 5:01pm. If you need special accommodations to participate in any event, please contact University Galleries at 309.438.5487 or gallery@IllinoisState.edu. All events at University Galleries are free and open to the public.

IMAGE: Natalie Wakefield (Senior at Centennial High School, Champaign, Illinois), “Flower Queen,” 2017. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

Official Website

More events on this date

Tags: Bess Lanker, Carol-Lynn Comparetto, Casey McCullough, Central Illinois High School Art Exhibition, Darlene Pegg, Emma Long, Enrika Stulpinaite Maldonado, Frank Bush, Illinois, Jayme Banzhoff, Kelly White, Margaret Maldonado, Matthew Boonstra, Natalie Wakefield, Normal, Rachel Angus, Ravyn Rodgers, Sam Ingram, Shannon Percoco, Stacey Gross, University Galleries of Illinois State University