For those high school students who are looking for a place to let their artwork shine, Ohio University Southern has given them the opportunity to show their promise with the first Tri-State High School Juried Art Exhibition.

“It was a combination of some of the university faculty, folks from the Athens campus and our dean wanted us to reach out to the high schools and the high school art teachers and the high school art students to get them involved with our new art program,” said Tom Suter, director of the art department at OUS.

Freshman through senior students from the Tri-State, whether attending public, private or home school, may submit up to three pieces of art to be considered for the exhibition. The art department faculty will judge the entries.

“Obviously one of the first things we look at, at this level, is the skill level,” Suter said. “We also look at original work, the creative aspect of the work. Also the idea of the incorporation of the elements and principles of design. We sort of have a rubric in place to judge that.”

The deadline to submit entries is Jan. 15. The opening reception and awards ceremony will be at the OUS Art Gallery on Feb. 24.

Even though this is the first year for the exhibition, Suter said he expects it will be come an annual project.

He said the goal of the exhibition is to “promote the exemplary art students in the region and honor them by allowing them to have their show in a gallery and to promote the arts for the region.”

A $500 scholarship will be awarded to two seniors who submit three pieces of work with all three being accepted and also enroll at Ohio University Southern and major in art.

First, second and third place as well as honorable mention ribbons will be awarded. All accepted entries will receive official Ohio University Southern Certificates of Merit.

To register for the exhibition, students must fill out the registration form found on the university’s website, www.ousartshow.com.

Students must also submit digital, jpeg images of their artwork for judging. The university suggests formatting image files to be no more than 1200 pixels in either width or height, but also no less than 600 pixels in either dimension.

There will also be two workshops held to give assistance in taking the digital photographs of the artwork. The workshops will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Friday and Jan. 15 in the Dingus Technology Building, Room D125.

The exhibition is open to all 2-D and 3-D artwork. All accepted entries will be displayed in the OU art gallery and accompanying space near the gallery.