Young artists from across the state were recognized for their talent at UMass Dartmouth's College of Visual and Performing Arts

On Saturday, Feb. 6, UMass celebrated the closing of the Emerging Young Artists Exhibition by awarding high school artists for their excellence.

Opened on Jan. 25, the CVPA Gallery hosted over 150 works by high school students across the state. Schools throughout Massachusetts that are recognized for their artistic excellence and “for the quality of work that comes from their art programs” are invited to submit student works of any media to be displayed in the gallery, according to a press release.

Ten students from Bishop Stang High School and Dartmouth High School had their works selected for the exhibition.

A committee of six faculty members went through the entire gallery, selecting works to be awarded for their merit, as well as several honorable mentions.

“The variety of techniques, it’s really amazing how broad the technical virtuosity is here. There’s paintings, there’s drawings, there’s prints, there’s digital work, sculpture, there’s ceramics,” College of Visual and Performing Arts Adrian Tio said.

Tio was tasked with selecting a piece that was unique, though possibly overlooked. A fan of mask collecting, Tio selected a mask created by Omar Julian Preciado Restrapo, a senior from Revere High School.

“I was fascinated by what he was able to do with that piece,” Tio said. “A lot of the masks I have are old and none of them are in perfect shape. They’re all wicked banged up, and I thought it was clever that he didn’t make it perfect. He made it imperfect, like we are.”

Tio stressed that recognizing young artists is important because art permits them to explore their creativity in school, where most of their classes constrain them to one-size-fits-all subjects where there is only one correct answer or expected outcome.

Della Copes-Finke, Miranda Couture and Dylan McKayee were the top three winners.

Two local students were given awards by the UMass faculty. Hanna Leavitt, 16, won the Merit Award for her sterling silver pendant, “Beaded Box,” and Sarah Philpot won an honorable mention for her piece “The Five Stages of…”

Leavitt’s piece stands at about an inch and a half tall, but is intricately studded with amethysts, a moonstone and finely soldered designs. Despite its ethereal look, the inspiration for the design came from an unlikely place.

“I work at a bakery so… the design on the front is actually from a cake,” Leavitt said. “It was a lot more intricate, but I made it a little more simple so I could copy it on the front.”

Though the necklace was made as an art piece, “I think my mom will be wearing it,” Leavitt said.