Rachel Gibson’s expression of her growth as an artist was named the Best in Show at the 14th Annual High School Juried Art Show.
The show opened on Tuesday night at the Mann Art Gallery with the opening and awards.
“This award means a lot to me since I have been doing this for so many years and just to win that same show means I have grown a lot as an artist and people recognize that.” Rachel Gibson said in an interview with the Daily Herald.
Gibson had won one of the awards two years ago as a Grade 10 student.
“It was really difficult to pick the best. I was looking at all the artworks and thinking about things like the artistic idea, concept execution etc.” Lana Wilson, the Juror of the Show said. “The initial concept showed progression as an artist. She has really cleverly combined different types of art to be like drawing exercises, painting exercises etc. The way that she executed that concept, she did with a great deal of artistic skills in a variety of media. The application is flawless, it is incredibly well done. You can tell she is working towards mastery of those media.”
The show had categories like the Best in Show, Artistic Innovation, Creative Expression, Emerging Artist, Creative Clay, Juror’s Choice and People’s Choice Award.
In an interview with the Daily Herald, Gibson thanked her mentors for helping her throughout the process.
“I just like to thank my teachers, Miss (Jennifer) Brown, Miss (Melissa) Mirasty and my boss Tia Furstenburg. She gave me the award two years ago and now here I am with another one.”
The show will run until June 7.
Full List of Awards
Best in Show: Rachel Gibson
Artistic Innovation: Abeedah Saka-Bello
Award for Creative Exploration in Any Medium: Ryder Hogan
Emerging Artist Award: Kayden Montgrand
Creative Clay Award: Penny Yanacoulias
Juror’s Choice Award: Kiara Levesque and Sheeree Eashappie
Artistic Achievement Award: Karrisa Manseau
Barb Lacey Memorial Award: Kayla Lange and Tatianna Trautmann
Photography Award: Thea Steward and Naviah Johnson
Improper Hanging’s: Zaida Perry
Fibre Award: Lisa Brodacki
People’s Choice: to be decided by patrons with paper ballots at end of exhibition
-With files from Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald
