MOSCOW — Another year and another solid showing for Kellogg High School artists at the annual University of Idaho High School Art Exhibition. This annual art competition held in Moscow at the UI campus is in its 27th year and invites more than 200 students from 30 high schools around the state (including larger North Idaho Schools) to compete and show off their creative abilities.

For the last two years, a student from KHS has placed in the top two and taken the coveted Best in Show title with one of their paintings. Maranda Berger earned the title in 2016 and Allysen Hei took it in 2017. Although the streak for Best in Show has now ended, the KHS crew certainly didn’t come back empty handed.

Elizabeth Marek, a KHS senior and fourth-year art student, was presented first place and a $150 art supply gift certificate for her piece, “We Are One” during the Feb. 23 award ceremony in the Ridenbaugh Hall Gallery.

KHS sophomore and second-year art student, Sydney Macoisek, also earned an honorable mention with her piece, “Who’s Your ‘Them’?”.

Art students from Wallace High School also had nine submissions in the event and came away with an honorable mention for Maggie Howard’s piece, “From Me to You.”

The theme for the competition this year was, “Radical Empathy.”

Sally Graves Machlis, the UI Director of the College of Art and Architecture, explained that this year’s theme was chosen to address several issues that are on the minds of high school students, such as natural disasters, school shootings, social and political divisions, hate speech and bullying.

“Radical Empathy is a concept that seeks to better understand the feelings of others to affect positive change and build healthier, more compassionate communities,” she said. “Radical Empathy asks us to fundamentally change our perspectives from judgmental to accepting. Radical Empathy requires that we try to imagine how another person feels and to understand and to reflect on our feelings and beliefs.”

KHS art teacher Rachael Krusemark was proud of their submission this year and stressed the high level of competition present at this event.

“This contest is open to all Idaho high schools and is not ‘classed’ by student population, so competition is tough.”

On top of the competition, the advanced art students from KHS and WHS got the opportunity to visit several studio classes and speak with art professors and students at UI.

For more information about the Art Exhibition and the UI College of Art and Architecture, visit https://www.uidaho.edu/caa/news/annual-events/high-school-art-exhibit.