The 16th Annual Juried Arts Exhibition is this Friday, February 28 at 7:00 pm. Featuring a variety of student art, the event started in 2005 as a way for visual arts students to display their talent to the school in the same way as other fine arts programs, such as drama, dance, and guitar.  

The entire student body was invited to submit work in a number of different categories, including printmaking, painting, photography, and ceramics.  

“[It showcases] anything from drawing to architectural models to sculpture [and everything in between],” Visual Arts teacher Ms. Corinna Brannon explained about the wide range of art categories, adding that digital art has gotten very popular recently.

Jennifer Cawley, who teaches visual arts at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School and is a St. Pius X alum (‘87), will judge the submissions. Cawley has degrees from both The Atlanta College of Art and Savannah College of Art and Design, and in 2019 she was named Art Educator of the Year by the Justice & Peace Ministries of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Mrs. Brannon said she especially enjoys asking former St. Pius students to be the judges for the annual event.

“For the past few years [the judges] have been alumni because I think it’s cool to show students what past students have done with their art,” she said. “[It’s nice to be able to show artists that] there is life out there for the artistic.”

There are first, second, and third place awards as well as an honorable mention for each category of art. Cawley will also select among all submissions the Best in Show, President, and Principal’s award winners.

Brand new this year is the Catholic Social Teaching Award, which will be given in honor of former St. Pius X teacher Ms. Charleen Klister. Ms. Klister was a longtime English teacher who joined the St. Pius faculty in 1963 as a nun. Social justice was particularly important to her, and she found ways to weave Catholic social teaching into her lesson plans and assignments throughout her lifetime of service to our school. She passed away in 2016.

An awards ceremony will be held in the Young Center at 7 pm, and a reception will immediately follow in the art room. The show is free, and all are welcome to attend. Artwork will continue to be displayed in the hallways near the library and the fine arts wing for the next several weeks.