2nd Annual Best of the Upper Valley High School Invitational Show

An exhibition of artworks created by Upper Valley high school students and nominated for participation by their art teachers will be on display at AVA Gallery and Art Center, 11 Bank Street, in Lebanon, New Hampshire, from February 12-March 5, 2010. A reception, free and open to the public, will take place Friday, February 12, from 5 to 7pm and will include a "Best of" Awards Ceremony and student Poetry Reading.

In the second year of this annual exhibition, AVA Gallery and Art Center approached 30 regional Vermont and New Hampshire public, private, and vocational high schools, requesting art faculty to nominate works by students who show exceptional promise in one of eight creative disciplines: Drawing, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Digital Arts / Video, Mixed Media, Sculpture, and Poetry. As of this writing, AVA Gallery and Art Center has received nominations from 19 schools, creating a singular opportunity to view, collectively, the best artworks created by Upper Valley teens. Participating high schools include: Bethel Schools, Chelsea Public High School, Green Mountain Union High School, Hartford Area Technical Center, Hanover High School, Hartford High School, Kimball Union Academy, Lebanon High School, Ledyard Charter School, Mascoma Valley Regional High School, Mid Vermont Christian School, Newport Middle High School, Oxbow High School, The Sharon Academy, South Royalton School, Stevens High School, Thetford Academy, Windsor High School, and Woodstock Union High School.

The Best of the Upper Valley High School Invitational Show is one of many programs AVA Gallery and Art Center offers the community to cultivate regional youths' participation in the arts. AVA's commitment also includes internship opportunities that promote professional development; scholarships towards AVA's classes and workshops, where technical and conceptual skills are gained while portfolios are developed; and access to AVA's new Digital Arts Media Lab, where youths can engage technology as a creative tool, exploring the potential for their expression in the virtual world.

The 2010 Best of the Upper Valley High School Invitational Show is made possible by the generous contributions of the following local businesses, business people, and organizations that support the arts in our community:

• Citizens Bank
• Defiance Electric & Crossover, Inc.
• The Doris Mollica Fund of the Lebanon Rotary Club
• Goss Logan Insurance
• Jennifer Snyder, Coldwell Banker-Redpath & Co.
• Mascoma Savings Bank
• Schuster, Buttrey, & Wing, P.A.
• Trumbull-Nelson Construction Company, Inc.