The ninth annual Student Visual Arts Competition, sponsored by the Orinda Arts Council, returns March 1st, as student artists from Lamorinda high schools will exhibit their artwork and compete to win awards.

Running from March 1 through March 28 at the Orinda Library, the show will include 2D work such as painting and drawing, 3D work such as sculpture and jewelry, and photography.

Popularly tagged as “The Orinda Show,” this exhibition offers an opportunity for students to display artwork for a prolonged period of time, in a public place, at no charge.  Unlike many art exhibitions in the area, the Orinda Show is easy to enter and is situated in a commonly visited public place.

Senior Allison Easter, an AP Photography and AP Art student, appreciates the opportunity to exhibit her work at such a public event: “Any kind of exhibition for student artists is awesome, and I wish that there were more in this area.”

Senior and AP Art student Mary Youm agreed with this sentiment: “I think that all those wonderfully talented artists in Lamorinda are extremely underrepresented. It’s all about sports in this community. You see tons of spreads in the yearbook and school and local newspapers about sports and every little thing that they do, yet you see almost nothing about accomplished young artists. I think that they deserve more recognition than they currently do.”

As extra incentive to enter this competition, the Orinda Arts Council will award cash prices totaling $2,550 to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each artistic category. Additionally, a “Best in Show” award will be given to the artist selected by the votes of the viewing public.  All winners will be honored at an Orinda Library reception on Wednesday March 7, from 4-6 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.