Knights Banner

Arroyo Students Win First and Second Place In LA Art Show

Thursday, December 14, 2006 By Kevin Chan

Every year the El Monte Union High School District has its annual District Art Show. The art show is an event displaying L.A. County Fair Cal-Expo prize winning student art from El Monte, Arroyo, Mountain View, Rosemead, South El Monte, and Ledesma High Schools. This year’s art show took place on October 25th in the El Monte High School large gym. Many of Arroyo’s students submitted art work for the L.A. County Fair., and this year, the competition was flooded with it. The L.A. County Fair contest isn’t a competition for only artwork. Students were allowed to submit artwork, writing samples, and student publications. The L.A. County Fair judging takes place towards the end of the school year. Some of this year’s winners have already graduated and moved on to college. Students of any grade were allowed to send in their art works. The prize winners were students of Arroyo’s two art teachers, Mr. Rick Riassetto and Mr. Rob Sutton. One of the alumni who won awards for their artwork was Juan Banuelos. He took first place for “3 Sinners,” a pencil drawn, black and white picture of the movie Sin City. Banuelos was a student of Mr. Riassetto. Mimi Matsumoto and Jonathan Ngyuen were some alumni who won Honorable Mentions for their art work. Matsumoto made a black and white pencil drawing of a woman’s face. She was a student of Mr. Sutton. Nguyen’s artwork was a picture of Viewtiful Joe. He colored it with Prisma colored pencils. Senior Lily Tran was a junior when she sent her collage of flying legs. She was a student of Mr. Sutton. “I was surprised that my artwork won second place because I originally did it to turn in as an art project. I didn’t expect to receive anything except for a grade on it. I really enjoyed creating abstract art because I was able to use my creativity and do anything I wanted on it. This was one of the very few projects that I actually enjoyed making,” said Tran. Art is a way to release a great amount of creativity. In art there are no limits to what you can and cannot do. Students made drawings in pencil, pen, paint, pastel, and anything one can think of. Some students even submitted collages and sculptures. However, most of the students submitted drawings of famous people and movies. “I’m extremely proud of the work my student’s put into their artwork and I feel they’re very deserving of their award. I look forward to another successful year for the art competition [in] 2007,” said Mr. Riassetto.