The Fairfield-Suisun City Visual Arts Association opens its 9th annual High School Student Art Show with over 300 pieces and 14 categories.

“I think some of the high school kids are just amazing,” says President of FSVAA Dennis Ariza of the student artwork submitted. “The detail that they do into their work, and they haven’t been doing artwork that long.”

The Art show opens March 19 and runs through April 13, with the show’s reception March 29.

The show is juried, meaning three jurors rate and score the art in each category, awarding first, second and third places to the best in each, says Ariza.

This year, there were 14 categories including paintings, ceramics, photography, digital art and mixed media.

First place in each category wins $75, second place wins $50 and third place wins $25, although some categories lacked second or third place winners due to quality or number of entries.

There are also honorable mentions for several categories with a lot of submissions and each juror selected and labeled their personal favorite piece.

Ariza himself will also select a favorite piece of artwork, whose artist wins a membership to the gallery, which allows artists to enter “every member show, and get one free entry,” he says.

Despite the high number of entries, Ariza says there are less participating schools than normal. Just four or five schools sent in student work, even though he reached out to many more, he says.

This could be due to new juried art shows held across the county or changes in school curriculum, but Ariza hopes to get the word out about the competition for future years.

Although presenting artwork in a judged show can be intimidating, Ariza says that it can be beneficial too. “It’s to get their creativity going … it could give them something to do with a career,” he says.

Often a show like the FSVAA High School Student Art Show, an opportunity to share your work and receive feedback, can encourage passionate artists to keep it up, says Ariza. “They get to see their work in a gallery. It’s really a lot of fun.”

The artwork was judged and awarded before the show opened on one very long art accepting day, says Ariza. “I was there at 9 o ‘clock in the morning and I didn’t get out of there till 9:30 last night,” he said on Monday.

If you go …

• WHAT: High School Student Art Show
• WHEN: March 19 – April 13, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• WHERE: Solano Town Center Gallery, 1350 Travis Blvd., Suite D-8, Fairfield.