Tommy, a mixed media painting by All Saints senior Ariane Blau, won a Merit of Honor at the 11th Annual High School Art Exhibition at the Tyler Museum of Art on Sunday afternoon. The exhibit, which runs from Feb. 15 - March 15, features work by 51 students from eight area high schools. (Victor Texcucano/Staff)

The 11th Annual High School Art Exhibition opened yesterday afternoon at the Tyler Museum of Art, giving 51 students from eight area high schools their first taste of the professional art world.

The exhibit, which runs from Feb. 15 through March 15, includes imaginative work in several media, including photography, colored pencils, paint, ceramic and many others.

Derek Frazier, interpretation manager and head of education at TMA, said TMA staff treats the show just as they would any major professional show.

He said the show gives people who have never been to TMA a chance to attend, as well as introducing many to the fine arts.

The show also gives students a chance to celebrate their own creativity.

Frazier said the show was judged by a group of local artists and art professors. The award winners were announced at the show’s opening.

The pieces were judged blindly, meaning that the judges did not know the artists or the schools they came from.

Judges looked at composition, lines, shape, color and texture, among other things, Frazier said.

Merits of Honor were given to four students: Bien Zeta, of Robert E. Lee, for “Untitled”; Perry Clements, of All Saints, for “Swamp”; Rebecca Bowles, of Bishop Gorman, for “It Runs in the Family”; and Ariane Blau, for “Tommy.”

The biggest award, however, was received by Megan Kirkpatrick, a senior at All Saints, for “Self-Portrait,” a ceramic sculpture of herself, which, she said, took her at least a month and a half, two art class periods in a row at a time.

“It was a little frustrating at times because it didn’t look like me for the longest time, and I still look at it and say ‘I could have changed that.”’

She said she used multiple photos taken from different angles of herself, and a mirror for small details.

Kirkpatrick said her art teacher, who had created a similar piece of herself in her 20s, inspired her.

She was encouraged to create a self-image to capture herself in time, she said.

“I’ll be able to remember high school and what art (class) was like,” she said. “I really love working with clay, so venturing away from the (pottery) wheel was fun.”

Jason Bennett, show organizer, said the show is TMA’s way of trying to connect with the community.

“More and more, we’re trying to be an active part of the community, and getting people to make art, and getting people to look at art, and trying to understand it,” he said. “This is one way we want to reach out to kids of this demographic, to encourage them to know (art) is a viable route – if they want to take it, they could.”

Bennett also said that the show serves as a way for the students to share the work they’ve worked so hard on, and be recognized for it.

“(The show) gives them a venue to say what they want to say,” he said. “And it gives them a line on their resume, which is a good thing.”