On February 7^th, four fine art students from Ridge High School were awarded prizes and scholarships at the National Art Honor Society Invitational Exhibition held at Mount Olive High School.  Thirteen high schools were included in the show, with one hundred and twenty-seven students participating.  Senior Maja Wittrup won first place in mixed media for her imaginative work featuring a portrait of a women in front of a “Favela,” a Brazilian shanty town.  She also received a $20,000 scholarship to Montserrat College of Art.  Senior Arianna Palmer was also awarded a $20,000 scholarship to the Montserrat College of Art, as well as a $20,000 scholarship to the Maine College of Art for her dramatic charcoal drawing, “Wheel of Fortune.”  Senior photography student, Maggie Ambrose, was also awarded a $20,000 scholarship to the Maine College of Art and the representative from the college explained that he was particularly impressed that she developed the silver gelatin print herself using a traditional dark room. 

At the Mount Olive Exhibition, senior Grace Cheung won 3^rd prize her highly detailed graphite drawing, while another of her works received a Merit Award at the Emerging Artists Exhibit, sponsored by the Art Administrators of New Jersey at Kean University on February 5th. As an award winner, she has the opportunity to submit her portfolio for the Art Administrators’ Achievement Award and is a nominee for the New Jersey Governor’s Award in Art.