CAC Art Competition and Balance4kids Art Exhibition

This year’s second-annual Community Advisory Committee Art Competition and Balance4kids Art Exhibition was held at the County Office of Education. All art entered in this year’s competition has been prominently displayed in the hallways of the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. With over forty entries, the artwork impressively lines the walls of the entrance hall.
The event was sponsored by Balance4Kids, and the CAC made the opening a fun, exciting event. Jazz musicians played at the entrance, beautiful artwork adorned the walls, and delicious food was provided. There was a great mix of teachers, CAC members, family members, a service dog, and the students…or rather, the artists themselves. The mood was lighthearted and yet rather excited. This is, after all, a contest.
This year it was decided that in conjunction with a popular vote of the crowd at the opening, a panel of judges would also view the art pieces and choose a winner. The panel was hand-picked by members of the CAC from among friends, coworkers, and acquaintances that are all artists themselves.
The participating artists, now with two groups of voters to sway, lots of friends and family to see, and delicious food to eat, were very busy. One artist, who was very intent on getting as many votes as possible, managed to get everyone she could to come look at her painting. There was no mention of voting from her, but it was clear that she was doing her best to get her work seen.
After an hour of discussing, eating, reviewing, and campaigning, the judges made their announcement. The Judges’ Pick was the drawing/collage piece made by Julie Curranco. It depicted flowers, a wide open sky, and a benevolent sun, which the judges thought captured the theme of the contest, “Nature All Around Us.” Julie and family were there and were very excited to receive such recognition.
There were logistical problems with the ballot box for the popular vote, which resulted in the delay of revealing the crowd’s pick. The final outcome for the popular vote was a tie for first place between Anders Timmons and Jordan Willhelm.
The CAC members coaxed votes from the crowd, resulting in about 90 votes being cast for the various 47 entries. I would personally like to congratulate all the winners – Julie, Anders, and Jordan, and also say “thank you” to the CAC for creating such a fun event for our artistic and inspiring students.

-James Hughes