Four local artists did the Silver Valley and their respective schools proud during the recent 30th Annual High School Art Exhibition at the University of Idaho’s College of Art & Architecture.

To no real surprise, this year the competition was conducted online with the theme of “I’m Listening" as the guiding focus for the artists.

Both Kellogg High School and Wallace Jr./Sr. High School had a pair of artists get high marks, including a second-place finish from KHS and a third-place finish from WHS.

Kellogg senior Julia Palmer tackled racial struggles and brought home the runner up award for her piece Selective Listening, while Wallace’s Megan O’Connell discussed human rights in her third-place piece You have to listen.

KHS sophomore Tiereny Perkins earned an honorable mention with her piece Silenced, which focused on women who have been sexually assaulted, while fellow WHS artist Tamra Ayers was also honorably mentioned for Street Views.

The WHS students, under the instruction of Mrs. Katie Lund, had been working on their artwork for the exhibition since September, which was challenging for them during their hybrid schedule.

You Have To Listen was deeply personal to O’Connell as it focused on the LGBTQ community and their inclusion within society.

“It’s all very emotional,” O’Connell said. “Just recognizing the LGBTQ community and being a part of it.”

Ayers’ massive three-panel painting was a look at how the recent Black Lives Matter protests were viewed and handled by those watching from afar, as well as those participating in them. She explained that such a vast topic required substantial space to work and it created quite the visual.

“I wanted to show every aspect of the protests,” Ayers said. “I wanted to show what the rioters were making it into, I wanted to show what the BLM protestors wanted it to be, and wanted to show the people who simply weren’t caring about it or ignoring it.”

Lund was proud of her students’ courage in addressing issues that may ruffle some feathers, while standing up for what they believe in.

“They chose issues that are really current and really important for everyone to be talking about,” Lund said. “Their willingness to share those ideas with their fellow students within the high school was really meaningful. They did a very good job presenting those topics in a very thoughtful way.”

This annual competition is open to all Idaho high schools and is not classed by school size or population.

Kellogg High School has historically done well at the event, including Maranda Berger winning Best in Show in 2016; Allysen Hei’s Best in Show in 2017, and Elizabeth Marek, who won first place in 2018.