college winners - 2017 Central Texas Art Competition Students from five area high schools and four area colleges received awards in the 38th annual Central Texas Art Competition.

Nearly 550 entries were submitted for the competition, which is coordinated by the Temple College Visual Arts Department. Works accepted for the competition included paintings, drawings, prints, photography, ceramics, sculpture and jewelry. The juror for the competition was Jeffie Brewer, an assistant professor in the School of Art at Stephen F. Austin University.

The competition offered a total of $2,100 in cash prizes to the student artists. In the college division, the $200 Best of Show Award went to Sophia Anthony of Southwestern University for her oil on panel piece titled “Self portrait with easel.” In the high school division, the Best of Show Award went to Mikaela Simmang of Eastview High School in Georgetown for her piece titled “Enchantment.” Simmang also received a $125 Award of Excellence for a different piece.

In the college division, Awards of Excellence went to Sam Pentico (Temple College), Samantha Shamard (University of Mary Hardin-Baylor), Lauren Valentine (Southwestern University), Sonja Lea (Southwestern University), John Utterback (Temple College), and Rebekah Brooks (University of Mary Hardin-Baylor). Honorable Mention Awards of $50 were given to Tara Dukaczewicz of Temple College and Perry Draper of Central Texas College.

High school students who received awards in the 2018 Central Texas Art Competition and Exhibition... High school students who received awards in the 2018 Central Texas Art Competition and Exhibition included (l-r) Better Hu (Central Texas Christian School), Bianca Gutierrez (Temple High School), Sophia Ramos (Georgetown High School), Mikaela Simmang (Eastview High School/Georgetown), Campbell Duffy (Georgetown High School) and Clark Jagodzinski (Harker Heights High School). Credit: Lucas Adams

In the high school division, other Awards of Excellence were given to Tatum Turner (Harker Heights High School), Vivian Le (Harker Heights High School), Bianca Gutierrez (Temple High School), Better Hu (Central Texas Christian School), and Campbell Duffy (Georgetown High School).

Honorable Mention Awards of $50 were given to Sophia Ramos (Georgetown High School) and Clark Jagodzinski (Harker Heights High School).

Of the 546 works submitted for the competition, 218 were selected for an exhibition that will be on display in the gallery of the Temple College Visual Arts Complex at 2105 South 5th St. in Temple through Dec. 4. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday or by appointment. Temple College will be closed for Thanksgiving Nov. 22-24.

The Central Texas Art Competition and Exhibition is sponsored by Altrusa International of Temple and the Temple South Rotary Club. It is one of the longest-running art competitions in Texas.