Holly Dirnberger, Oran High School, 10th grade; First place in painting

Brian Ellebracht, Mehlville Senior High, 12th grade; First place in drawing

Lesley Martin, Cape Central, 12th grade; First place in fiber

Lori Droge, Cape Central, 12th grade; First place in sculpture

Andrew Christiensen, Cape Central, 12th grade; First place in ceramics

Some of the area's most promising young artists have their artwork featured at Southeast Missouri State University's 22nd Annual High School Art Symposium, which opened Sunday and will run throughout February.

A total of 565 entries, 200 in drawing alone, were submitted by students from St. Louis to the Bootheel. In all, 24 schools were represented.

"We have plenty of excellence which is evidence of the sound art programs at the high school level," said Dr. Edwin Smith at Sunday's open reception and recognition ceremony. Smith is head of Southeast's art department and founder of the juried art symposium.

An opening reception for the artists was held Sunday at the University Museum.

Nick Elfrink, a retired art teacher and school administrator, served as this year's juror. From the seven categories of artwork, he selected 119 pieces to be displayed and awarded first, second and third place recognition in each category.

"It was an quite an impressive group of work," said Elfrink. Many of the pieces are close to professional quality, he said. Elfrink also was impressed with the number of new and unique approaches to art.

"This is a great opportunity for the kids to get to show their stuff," Robert Friedrich, art instructor at Central High School said of the symposium.

Each school was limited to 50 entries this year, making selection at some schools difficult.

"You never know what a judge will be looking for," said Friedrich. Friedrich and Judy Barks-Westrich, also an art instructor at Central, did a good job of selecting exhibits to send to the show because 35 pieces of art from Central students were among the 119 on display, with seven of those receiving first-, second- or third-place honors.

Karen Hummel, art instructor at John F. Kennedy High School in St. Louis, was impressed with the range of categories: sculpture, painting, drawing, ceramics, printmaking, photography and fibers.

"Usually you just see painting or drawing," she said. "I like to see it opened up to other categories."

Hummel, a Southeast alumnus, has been at Kennedy only two years. Her students had not participated in the symposium before this year.

"This is something we will definitely enter again next year," she said.

Each year a student is chosen who will have the task of creating the artwork that will be used for publicity for the symposium. Central High School twins Roy and Tim Kridelbaugh were selected to create a sculpture for the 2000 show.

"Our teacher (Friedrich) came up with the idea," said Roy. "He gave us the assignment of a head split in half." Each twin was to complete his half without knowing what the other was doing. The halves were then joined into one piece.

"It was a way for us to show our individuality," Roy Kridelbaugh said.

David Schuchart, a 10th-grade student at Sikeston, was just following his teacher's directions when he created a piece of weaving for class. That piece was among the 119 on display and went on to place third in the fiber category.

This was Schuchart's first chance to enter a piece, but it is definitely something he plans to do again. Schuchart was pleased with the award but said his real passion is for drawing and shading, "anything with perspective."

Nathan Short, a Cape Central senior, plans to attend the Memphis College of the Arts. Short has two prints and a photo on display.

"This will look good for my portfolio," he said. His portfolio will look even better than he thought since one of his prints received third place honors and his photo entry was awarded first place.

Elle Anders of Marquand has been submitting her students' work for the past three years.

"We've had a piece come in every year," she said. Selected for exhibition this year was senior Charity Poe's ceramic interpretation of a character from "Momma Makes Up Her Mind," a selection she read for class. Talented young artists can be found in every school, regardless of the size.

"We're here competing with some of the larger schools in the district," said Anders.

Paul Craig, an 11th grade student at Dexter, was selected to create the artwork for the 2001 symposium. One of Craig's watercolors will be seen on posters and pamphlets advertising the next symposium.