Congratulations to the Winners of High Honors 2026!

As the summer camp season comes to a close, we must say goodbye to the incredible Middle and High School artwork that graced our gallery walls during this year's High Honors exhibition. Every year, these young artists astound us with the range of creative ideas on display and the sheer skill they exhibit in their work.

Our juror, Leslie Murphy, had her work cut out for her when selecting the winners of both the High School and Middle School divisions of the exhibition. While she couldn't pick every artist to win a ribbon, we are grateful to and impressed by all the artists who shared their work with us this summer!

Middle School Winners

Honorable Mention: Sarvika Garlapati for Cafe Scene

Honorable Mention: Maria Gaveski for Sunflowers of Joy

3rd Place: Riya Agrawal for My Colorful World

This paint and marker piece is remarkably rendered, with incredibly smooth blocks of color- difficult to achieve in either medium! With such saturated colors, it does an amazing job of balancing liveliness with peace in its overall effect.

Juror's Comments: "This piece is striking in its bold use of color and graphic rendering. The landscape looks like a vibrant and peaceful place. Nicely done."

2nd Place: Aadhya Meesala for Some Art Reveals Itself

There are many thoughtful layers to this painting, hidden within its bold and saturated colors, which invite you to both step closer and look at the details and step back to see the illusions of the whole.

Juror's Comments: This is such a cool and interesting painting! The rendering and carefully composed design are incredibly well done. These 'fool the eye' paintings are not easy to make and this artist has done an amazing job. Very creative.

1st Place (Middle School): Zen Nathani for Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman

From the dynamic angle to the vibrancy of the colors, this piece captures action in stillness. The saturation of the marker and the texture of the colored pencil work off of each other to create an atmosphere that draws you into the scene and makes you feel the comic book "POW" behind it.

Juror's Comments: "This rendering looks like it could be straight off the desk of one of the concept artists for the Spiderverse movies. The use of colors and dynamic composition make this work stand out. Well done."

High School Winners

Honorable Mention: Ethan Boligitz for Cherry Blossom Bird House

Honorable Mention: Simon Carbonell for Sword Saint

3rd Place: Sonayon Ayeni for Piano Player

This detailed ink and marker piece is a surreal conceptual work of art, one that required incredible patience and vision to achieve. The treble clef motif that subtly repeats in the background and the detail of the brainstem mirroring the wig styles of some of the great European composers are thoughtful additions.

Juror's Comments: "The absolute strangeness and meticulous style of this drawing are equally compelling. The urge to look closer each time I passed the work was not one I could resist. It is unsettling in a good way, and the fact that it keeps drawing the viewer back to look more closely cements it as a great work."

2nd Place: Audrey Yu for Enchanted

This remarkable charcoal piece is a striking portrait that showcases the power of restraint in a color palette. The soft greys juxtapose against the shimmering gold wings of the butterflies for breathtaking effect.

Juror's Comments: "I love the way the artist has juxtaposed the golden butterflies with the dying flowers and the less than pleased expression on the subjects face. It suggests something darker beneath a polished surface. The rendering is incredible. "

1st Place: Minakshi Chilgani for Childhood Portrait

Pencil is such a meticulous medium to work with, and the range of values achieved on this piece suggest mastery. There's so much lively expression in both of the faces that draws you right into the piece.

Juror's Comments: "This drawing is absolutely stunning. While the pencil is extremely precise, the rendering still has a hazy, dreamlike quality to it that suggests a nostalgic feeling. Beautiful work."

People's Choice

Saanvi Bajaj for The Sea Remembers

To achieve such vibrancy with watercolor is an incredible skill, and this piece makes great use of the translucency of the medium in the many layers and almost glowing effect of the sky and sea.

While we're sad to see High Honors go for the year, we're excited about Summer Serendipity, opening on Monday July 27! The work has come in and we're in the process of hanging it currently, and it's definitely a show worth seeing.

For middle and high school students who might want to participate in next year's High Honors, we recommend signing up for our weekly email list to keep up with upcoming opportunities and submission deadlines! We also have youth classes beginning at the end of August, including several drawing, ceramics, and performance classes for middle to high school aged students. We hope to see you here!