By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HOOVER—A handful of Hoover City Schools students got a taste of life as a professional artist. On Oct. 8, Aldridge Gardens hosted an art show featuring the works of Spain Park and Hoover High School students.

The show featured more than 30 pieces displaying a wide breadth of mediums, including sculpture, digital photography, acrylic painting and graphite pencil drawing.

“This is the first time we’ve done this (but) we’ve been talking about doing it for the past year or so,” Billy Pennington, chair of the Aldridge Gardens Art and Sculpture Committee, said. “We invited the two high schools from the Hoover City School System to submit their best student works for the show.”

Pieces were judged for craftsmanship, design principals and art elements by retired Samford University professor and art department chair, Dr. Lowell Vann.

“It’s nice to see what’s going on, high schools are doing a good job, these two (Spain Park and Hoover High) especially,” Vann said. “It was a good show, I could have given two or three more honorable mentions.”

Spain Park’s Laura Alston took first place, and was granted a $1,000 cash award. Hoover High’s Rachel Wang, Matthew Evans and Byron Arroya came in second, third and fourth, respectively.

Spain Park’s Sarah Gray and Julia Kafeena and Hoover High’s John Michael Alfano and Autumn Laws-Douglas received honorable mentions.

Aldridge Gardens houses a professional gallery that has shown the likes of Nall, Don Estes, Toby Klein and Beth Anne Hill. The student show was the first of its kind at the gallery.

For many of the Hoover art students, the show was the first time seeing their work featured in a gallery.

“It kind of makes me feel important,” Evans, the show’s third place winner and a Hoover High School senior, said with a laugh.

Evans’ award winning acrylic painting depicted a showboat he saw while in Savannah, Ga.

“I told my mother, ‘I’m going to draw it,’” Evans recalled. “I try to do all of my work from my own photos.”

Evans will continue studying art at the Savannah School of Art and Design next year.

Hoover High School’s Caitlin Gerard was also excited to have her digital photograph featured at the Aldridge Gardens gallery. Although only a sophomore, Gerard said she plans to continue studying art.

“I really have a fun time with it,” Gerard said. “I hope to continue it.”