Well over $100,000 in potential scholarships and other prizes were presented to middle and high school student artists at the ninth annual Clackamas Education Service District Regional Art Show awards ceremony.
Wilsonville High School senior Nikolai Kurashov took home “Best of Show” honors for his provocative ink and acrylic paint drawing “We Are Machine.” Kurachov also won 12th grade first-place honors.
The awards ceremony, held at the Clackamas ESD administrative building April 24, honored the nearly 200 students in all 10 Clackamas County school districts who submitted artworks to this year’s show.
Nearly 50 juried and special awards were presented during the ceremony, which was preceded by a reception for student artists and their teachers and families. The generous prizes offered to students were made possible by the sponsorship of Pacific Northwest College of Art, Clackamas Community College, Venvino Art Studios, Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts and members of the Clackamas River Basin Council.
Kurashov earned multiple prizes for his two wins, including thousands of dollars in scholarships from PNCA; a four-credit tuition waiver from Clackamas Community College; gift cards from Venvino Art Studios and Blick Art Materials; a Lakewood Center for the Arts gift certificate; the opportunity to showcase his art in the upcoming Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts Youth Exhibit; and miscellaneous art supplies.
Other high school grade-level awards were spread out over multiple schools in the Estacada, Lake Oswego, Molalla River, North Clackamas, Oregon City and West Linn-Wilsonville school districts.
Other top high school winners included:
- Karina Secchi of West Linn High School, who won first-place 11th grade honors for her colored pencil drawing “The Undead and the Unseen.”
- Sal Aultman-Meltzer of the Sabin-Schellenberg Professional Technical Center in Milwaukie, who placed first at 10th grade for his ceramic piece “שְׁרִיצָה (Shemritza).”
- Andy Goe of New Urban High School in Oak Grove, who won the top award in 9th grade for his acrylic painting “Bird Days.”
- Lilly Horn, a senior at Estacada High School, who won the Jada Rupley Superintendent’s Choice Award for her charcoal drawing, “Forgotten in My Eyes, Stored in My Heart.” The award is named in honor of Clackamas ESD Regional Art Show founder and retired superintendent Jada Rupley, and its recipient was selected by current superintendent Larry Didway. The ESD purchased Horn’s drawing for permanent display.
All high school winners received PNCA scholarships; gift cards from Venvino Art Studios; the opportunity to showcase their art in the youth exhibit at this summer’s Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts; art supplies; and notecards featuring their work. The three top winners in 10th, 11th and 12th grades also received Clackamas Community College single-class tuition waivers.
Chloe Kim, an eighth grader at Baker Prairie Middle School in Canby, won the Staff Choice Award, voted on by employees of Clackamas ESD. The ESD purchased Kim’s painting “Pacific Mountain Mist” and will keep it on permanent display.
Other top middle school winners included three students from Inza R. Wood Middle School in Wilsonville, who swept first place honors at all three grade levels:
- Paige Granum took the top prize at eighth grade with her mixed media piece “Dear, Malvina.”
- Avery Cottam led seventh grade winners with her painting “Alpine Summer.”
- Declan Levandowky was the top scorer in sixth grade for his color pencil drawing “A Light in the Darkness.”
Middle school winners received Venvino Art Studios gift cards; the opportunity to showcase their art in the youth exhibit at this summer’s Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts; sketchbooks; and notecards featuring their work.
Clackamas ESD asked each art show adjudicator to select a piece that conveyed the strongest message. In addition to Karina Secchi’s 11th-grade winning artwork and Declan Levandowsky’s top sixth-grade piece, nine other entries were selected for these “Art Speaks” awards by judges:
- “Moon River,” an acrylic painting by Isabella Perez of Clackamas High School
- “The 28th Amendment,” an acrylic and pastel piece by Kylee Turner of Oregon City High School
- “Modest,” an illustration by Alanah Butler-Coronado of Lake Oswego High School
- “Head Tornado,” a wearable sculpture by Julia Weigel of Wilsonville High School
- “Fleeting Flames,” an acrylic painting by Adina Lozovan of Wilsonville High School
- “Rae,” a drawing, print and eraser stamp piece by Emma Slaughter of Alliance Charter Academy in Oregon City
- “Pass the Kimchi!,” an oil painting by Hanna Faroghi of Lake Oswego High School
- “The Way It Was,” a drawing and watercolor piece by Dylan Durante of Inza R. Wood Middle School in Wilsonville
- “Morning Visit,” a mixed media painting by Frog Slover of Wilsonville High School
Members of the Clackamas River Basin Council presented special $100 sponsor’s awards to three student artists – Anna Mitchenkov and Alisa Avanesyan of Clackamas High School, and Dylan Durante of Inza R. Wood Middle School – who exhibited pieces with strong environmental themes.
A complete list of winning students and their artwork can be found in the slideshow at the top of this page.
“I welcome this annual opportunity to honor the amazing young artists in our community, as well as the teachers in our Clackamas County schools who are skillfully expanding these students’ talents,” said Clackamas ESD Superintendent Larry Didway. “Our spring regional art show is the culmination of months of planning. Dozens of people have a hand in making this event successful. I’m particularly grateful to our generous sponsors – PNCA, Clackamas Community College, Venvino Art Studios, Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts and members of the Clackamas River Basin Council – and to the 11 professional artists who volunteered many hours of their time to thoughtfully adjudicate our entries.
“Our heartiest thanks, of course, go to the nearly 200 middle and high school students and 36 teachers who participated in this show. Teachers are major partners in this event, personally curating, prepping and submitting art from their students. Across seven grade levels, this art show captures the creativity, inspiration and talent that is exhibited in Clackamas County classrooms every day. Through their art, these students are showing us many powerful ways to view the world and make it a better, more equitable and more compassionate place.”
The virtual gallery of the 2025 Clackamas ESD Regional Art Show remains online at clackesd.org/2025artshow.
See more photos from the awards ceremony on our Facebook page.
