Lucy London took first place for her watercolor painting “The Diversity of Fish-es” in the 20th Annual Student Art Show celebrating young people’s connection to the Santa Barbara Channel.
 
For 20 years, Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show has celebrated the connection between young people and the ocean. Every spring, high school students from Carpinteria to Goleta are invited to create and submit their interpretations of what the Santa Barbara Channel means to them.

Supervisor Laura Capps stands with winners of 20th Annual Student Art Show.
Supervisor Laura Capps with winners of 20th Annual Student Art Show. Credit: Courtesy photo

Community members gathered recently at Jodi House Gallery to honor the inspiring artists at a reception and awards ceremony hosted by local environmental nonprofit, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper.

In addition to London’s 1st place entry, the following awards were presented by Dist. 2 County Supervisor Laura Capps:

Second place to Alexis Botella for “What Lurks at the Bottom,” a scratchboard triptych; and third place to Elina Lopez Garza’s “Hidden in the Fronds,” a ceramic vessel featuring leopard sharks.

The Environmental Ethic Award went to Julia Medina for “Under the Collage.” Juror’s Choice Award recipients were Sofia Sasseen’s “Chords Out of the Caws” and Noelle Gerthoffer’s “Sharp Thorns.” Honorable mentions went to Aislinn Kisner, Lucia Wolf, and Anneliese Oprea.

With its colorful array of shapes, textures and patterns, the artwork produced celebrates the beauty and biodiversity of the Santa Barbara Channel. The student creations also inspire the community to protect the channel.

A collage of selected pieces from this year's show.
A collage of selected pieces from this year’s show.

In honor of the show’s 20th anniversary, Michael Irwin and Judith Raimondi, who for many years supported the show as art teachers, juried the show and selected the award-winning pieces. They said they were amazed by the caliber of the artwork, and noted the prevalence of sculpture submitted this year.  
 
“The students’ artwork was creative and insightful,” said Ted Morton, Channelkeeper’s executive director. “I really enjoyed learning about the motivation behind the students’ pieces and I was impressed with how well they expressed their personal connection to Santa Barbara Channel.”

Art submissions were accompanied by a statement explaining the artist’s personal connection to the Santa Barbara Channel and the environment.

In her artist’s statement, London wrote, “ … it’s come to my attention that even incredibly biodiverse marine regions (like the Santa Barbara Channel) are under threat from human impacts. This piece is inspired by a statistic that I heard, which said that ‘by 2025 there will be 1 ton of trash in the ocean for every 1 ton of fish.’

“In order to communicate this fact to people, and hopefully inspire them to change, I made a piece styled after old encyclopedia pages, but had about half of the ‘fish’ pictured actually be trash. Our oceans, though vast, are struggling, but it’s not too late to save them.”

Together, the artworks and artist statements convey a message of hope. 

“Every year we are amazed by the caliber of the student artwork, and we are inspired by the personal stories behind each piece,” said Penny Owens, education and outreach director.

“Channelkeeper is dedicated to protecting our local waterways and fostering environmental awareness and stewardship in today’s youth,” she said. “Seeing the artwork celebrating the natural beauty of the Santa Barbara Channel and the messages and artist statements by the students gives us hope that our future is in good hands.”

Over the past 20 years, more than 4,000 students have submitted art to Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show.

The show is sponsored by Trillium Enterprise, Inc. and the city of Goleta.