Local students will shine at LAC’s March installation
Teenage artwork fills the gallery
Lamorinda Arts Council (LAC) is hosting a high school Visual Arts Competition to provide local art students the experience of exhibiting their artwork in a professional venue and displaying their talent.
Visitors will view artwork made by high school students living in or attending high school in the Acalanes Union High School District, which includes Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda and Walnut Creek, as well as private schools and home-schooled students.
“My piece captures the raw intensity of human emotion, depicting a woman with short hair frozen in a scream of horror and distress,” said Ariana Hallstrom. In 2025 she received $300 as the First Prize winner in the Digital Art category for “Fractured Echo” at the Lamorinda Art Council’s Visual Art Competition.
Jennifer Lothrigel, LAC board member and chairperson, said the annual showcase serves as both a celebration of student talent and a gathering point for the local arts community.
“We are excited to provide the opportunity for students to share their creative work and for the community to come together in support of emerging young artists.”
LAC thanks the Bentley school in Lafayette for supporting the event and the Lamorinda Arts Alliance for sponsoring the Digital Art category.
One change this year was that students could submit only one art piece per category and could enter a maximum of two categories. New size requirements were also introduced to ensure all artwork fit within the gallery.
Families, friends and supporters of teen art are invited to attend the student artist reception on March 19 at 7 p.m. and the student awards presentation from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Library Auditorium.
The juried competition consists of four categories: two-dimensional art; three-dimensional art; photography; and digital art (use of AI software is prohibited). Winners in each category receive cash prizes, merit certificates and an online public exhibit on the LAC website LamorindaArts.org/vac-galleries.
Industry professionals in each category judge the art. Criteria includes creativity and originality, content and degree of expertise in the chosen medium.
Visit the Gallery to view artwork from March 2 to April 2 at 26 Orinda Way. Hours are Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; closed Sundays. Call 925.254.2184 for more Library information or visit ccclib.org/. Questions about the exhibit or need more information? Email gallery@LamorindaArts.org, call 925.359.4490 or visit LamorindaArts.org/galleries-2.
Vivian Tolajian was awarded First Place and $300 in the 2D art category for “Tuesday Morning Meeting” in the 2025 Lamorinda Arts Council’s Visual Arts Competition. “This piece was meant to make fun of the idea that women in many movies/pieces of media who hold positions of power in a workspace are always depicted as cold, mean, and emotionless for them to be competent in their jobs.”
Virtual Gallery: Interested in a community gallery exhibit?
Lamorinda Arts Council invites you to apply for a free online exhibit of up to 20 photographs of your artwork for a one-month period here: tinyurl.com/bdefwr2t. For more information, email info@LamorindaArts.org or call 925.359.9940.
Art to Take Your Breath Away
“Viola Frey: Foundations 1965 – 1987” at Walnut Creek’s Bedford Gallery explores this Bay Area artist’s pivot from 2D work to monumental 3D forms. Frey’s fresh perspective pushed the art world to shift its view of ceramics from craft to art. “Largest Grandmother,” a 10 ft. x 33” x 24” colorful archetypal figure, may return you to your childhood looking up at your grandmother. Through April 5, bedfordgallery.org/.
“Bouquets to Art” features Bay Area floral designers who interpret both the de Young and Legion of Honor permanent collections using flora, botanicals and other material with imagination to take your breath away. Look for ID tags with “Orinda Garden Club.” March 3 to 8; tickets offer same day timed access to both locations, famsf.org.
“Call for Art: Slopes of Diablo 2026” asks for S.F. Bay Area artists’ perspective and interpretation of awe-inspiring Mount Diablo. Sponsored by Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek, cash awards. Submission deadline is May 7, valleyartgallery.org.
