On April 2, a reception was held for the Tehachapi Youth Art Contest. This annual contest, sponsored by Tehachapi Valley Arts Association and Gallery 'N' Gifts, invites student artists of all grade levels to submit their artwork to appear in their gallery.

This year, over 60 artists submitted pieces to be judged. The student artwork will be on display through the month of April. Gallery 'N' Gifts, located at 100 W. Tehachapi Blvd., is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

"This year's submissions show incredible talent," said President Gale Caldwell. "It was exciting to see their work. So much creativity and attention to detail. Lots of shadowing, perspective and great composition. It was also really neat to see students submitting pottery and ceramic sculpture pieces."

Below are the awards given out:

Best of Show K-8:

Grace Mitchell

Best of Show High School:

Eleanor Hutchinson

Grades K, 1, 2:

1st place: Erik Haas

2nd place: Nora Roberson

3rd place: Ivy Barnes

HM: Natalie,

Blake Fish and Julianna Whittier

Grades 3, 4, 5:

1st place: Sara Leon

2nd place: Alexandria Santa Maria

3rd place: Ann Mitchell

HM: Israella Abraham, Silas Dobrenen, Abby Lesina, Micah Miles,

Rose Dillenbeck and Emery Carrillo

Grades 6, 7, 8:

1st place: Grace Mitchell

2nd place: Olivia Glover

3rd place: Stella Schneir

HM: Emma Smith,

Photo provided

First place in the grades 3, 4, 5 category: Sara Leon.

Noah Gonzales and Nathan Reid

High School:

1st place: Eleanor Hutchinson

2nd place: Mikailey Judkins Irvine

3rd place: Sara Jones

HM: Katelynn Romeri,

Emily Heier, Izabel Orrantia,

Amy Fong and Sierra Ehresman