BELPRE - Belpre High School will have eight students representing it at the 2010 Ohio Governor's Youth Art Competition this weekend in the Columbus area.
"This year we have all different kinds of media represented, including photography - for the first time," said art teacher Jeff Tharp.
The artwork includes acrylic painting, oil painting, clay sculpture, printmaking and charcoal, Tharp said.
The students include Danielle Gherke, Paige Hall, Jacob Hartinger, Kai Wenas, Megan Bailey, Jennifer Miller, Brianna Ashcroft and Dylan Markham, all of whom are in grades 10 through 12.
Wenas is a foreign exchange student from Germany who has spent the school year in Belpre.
"This is the first time, that I remember, a foreign student with Belpre has been chosen for the competition," Tharp said.
Wenas, whose work is the school's first photo nomination in the competition, said having his work chosen just adds to his "American experience."
"It is an honor for me to be here to experience American high school, American life and American art and all of this means a lot to me," he said.
Hartinger, a senior, is a first year art student whose painting of himself as a juggler will be in the competition marks his first time being recognized for his art.
"Since this is my first art class, this is my first time in an art show and I'm excited," he said. "I haven't had a chance to do any of this before."
This will be Hall's third time in the competition. Her block print was shown at the James A. Rhodes State Office Tower as part of the Governor's Exhibit last spring. Hall also won in the 2008 competition for an acrylic abstract painting.
The artwork was chosen to go to the state competition in after they won the regional competition of 16 high schools in Athens earlier this year. Twenty-two pieces were entered into that competition by Belpre High School students. Each student was allowed to enter up to five pieces.
At the state level, the local art pieces will go up against artwork from all of Ohio's 1,109 high schools in Upper Arlington.
Winners of this weekend's competition will have their piece exhibited at the state office tower. The nine Belpre pieces of artwork will go up against thousands around the state with 300 winners.
