Sunday, February 16, 2025

WCAC to Host its Twentieth Annual High School Student Art Show

(Courtesy of Williamsburg Contemporary Art Center)

WILLIAMSBURG — The Williamsburg Contemporary Art Center (WCAC), located at 110 Westover Ave., is set to host its 20th Annual High School Student Art Show which will run from April 27 to May 20.

The show will feature the artwork of students from several local schools:

“In 2020, we had our student show in January and it went great, and then COVID[-19] struck,” said WCAC Program Chair Karen Schwartz in an interview with WYDaily. “So in 2021, we couldn’t do things in the gallery because we were closed, but we decided to do virtual shows.”

WCAC used the theme, “What are we doing during COVID[-19],” for one of the virtual shows. In the spring, they had a final show which was called, “This is where we are now.”

“We really did have some wonderful artwork in both of those shows,” Schwartz said.

This year, the high school art show is returning as an in-person show. WCAC typically hosts the high school art show as the first art show of the year, in January, but this year it will be in the spring.

According to Schwartz, each school is allocated a number of pieces relative to the size of the school.

“So far we have 107 students participating, and about 120 pieces,” Schwartz said.

It’s predicted that there will be around 135 pieces of student art in total at the show.

“The artwork by the students is phenomenal. It’s one of our best-attended shows because all the students in the show come and they bring their parents and their friends,” said Schwartz. “When we were on boundary street we would have people lined up from the entry and around and down the sidewalk.”

“It’s a really great show and I’m looking forward to seeing what we get,” Schwartz added.

The show will be judged for cash awards by Joan Bevelaqua, an award-winning oil and watercolor painter that works in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

The students are given cash rewards for first, second, and third place. There are also eight merit awards and one people’s choice award.

The people’s choice won’t be announced until the end of the show because WCAC lets the art show run whole the duration so attendees can vote for their favorite piece.

There will also be about 12 or 15 honorable mention awards so that WCAC can recognize more students.

The WCAC gallery is always free, and open Tuesday through Saturday. 11 a.m – 4 p.m.

For more information on the WCAC High School Student Art Show, please head over to WCAC’s official website.

Related Articles

MORE FROM AUTHOR