There were sculptures of eyeballs and robots, a phoenix hanging from the ceiling and portraits galore. On Friday, April 20, California State University, Stanislaus’s Art Gallery hosted the annual Turlock Regional Art Show.
The Turlock Regional Art show was started by Turlock High School art instructor Bob Dennison and Roselawn High School’s Ann Williams-Bailey. The show grew as teachers from other high schools got their art classes involved. When the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock burned down, CSU Stanislaus offered the Turlock Regional Art Show their gallery space. Since then, the university’s Art Gallery has hosted the show every year, displaying more than 200 student art pieces and representing 10 to 12 high schools in the region.
Art classes from high schools all across the Stanislaus County region and beyond participated in this year’s show.
“The show gives the students a chance to see what other students are doing, and they get to see that involvement of the mind and soul,” said Turlock High School art teacher, Marti Knapp.
The show began with a reception at 5:30 p.m. and an artist talk at 6 p.m. Art pieces ranging from unique sculptures to intricate paintings were on display. One piece, titled “Bon Appetit: The Three Tasty Eaters” was like an ode to Julia Child.  The sculpture was comprised of a fish, chicken, cookbook, wine bottle and hat, each made out of clay. Other pieces that stood out included a clay sculpture of eyeballs, a sculpture of a robot, a paper phoenix hanging from the ceiling and a painting of what appeared to be an angry angel.
Cash prizes were given out to each student that placed in the different categories.  The categories were sculpture, color drawing, black-and-white drawing, mixed media, painting, digital arts and photography. First, second and third place awards and an honorable mention award were given in each category. In addition, there was a Best in Show award.
Best in Show went to Blake Dickey’s photograph titled “Ice” which depicted three ice cubes stacked on top of each other. In the top-most ice cube, there is a little man stringing a guitar. The Pitman High School junior, whose passion is physics, said he did not at all expect to place in the art show.
“The photo was just part of an art project I had to do for school and was probably the best out of all the other photos I turned in. The others were just average photos, and I had one lucky charm,” Dickey said.
High school participants who did not place in the show still enjoyed the event.
“I just like seeing everyone else’s work because a lot of it culminates throughout the year,” said Turlock High School student, Dottie Lobue. “It’s really cool to see how the other students are thinking just by looking at their art.”