Jason Berryman, chair of the art department at Topeka West High School, says the art and photography departments at the school are having a banner year.
Twenty-seven pieces created by the students were accepted into the 2014 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards regional show in Wichita. Twenty of those works are photographs created by students in its digital photography and advance photography classes.
Of those entries, Berryman said, seven received the top Gold Key award, eight received Silver Key awards, and 12 earned honorable mentions.
In past years, the school has entered from 30 to 80 entries in the competition and had two or three pieces accepted into the show, which showcases paintings, sculptures, glassworks, prints, photography, jewelry and other artworks by high school students in Kansas.
“After the regional show is finished, the Gold Key winners are automatically entered into the national show,” he said, adding the national exhibition will be juried in New York City and displayed later this year in the nation’s capital.
Berryman said he’s been teaching 19 years at Topeka West and remembers the school entering the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards regional show for at least 17 years.
“There was only one year we missed,” he said, describing how an ice storm prevented the delivery of the entries. Today, entries are submitted online rather than transporting the physical artworks to Wichita.
In addition to faring well in the regional show, Berryman said, two Topeka West photography students also did well in the recent “Kansans … Are Talented As You Think” high school art competition.
Junior Molly Taggart won the black-and-white photography category, while senior Brent Lambert received Best of Show in the same division.
The 2014 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards regional show, which showcases about 400 works, runs through March 9 at the Wichita Center for the Arts, 9112 E. Central Ave.
The awards ceremony will be at 2 p.m. March 9. Gallery hours are from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
To see all of the Topeka West entries selected for the show, visit CJOnline.com.