Young artists invited to showcase talent at Redlands Youth Art Expo

Young artists Isla Palenscar, 14, and Norah Shiner, 17, used their creativity to make an acrylic painting and a ceramic bowl as entries for the Youth Art Expo last Memorial Day weekend during the annual Art in the Park in Smiley Park.

The Redlands residents—Isla, an eighth grader at Cope Middle School, and Norah, an 11th grader at Redlands High School—respectively won first place in the sixth through eighth grade category and an honorable mention for a ceramic bowl she created with Benny Lin, a student at Redlands High.

A Passion for Painting

Last year was the first year Isla entered the art competition. Her acrylic painting was named Wishes in the Wind.

“It was just a peaceful scene,” said Isla.

She was 13 when she painted with acrylics and won first place, a blue ribbon, and $75. It took her two weeks to create the painting.

Isla also entered the Redlands Educational Partnership art show with a painting called Walking through the Orange Groves. She modeled it after the orange groves in Prospect Park.

Her mother, Victoria Palenscar, said Isla has been nurturing this talent for some time.

“She has loved art since probably the first grade,” said Victoria.

Isla, who lives with her parents, Kai and Victoria, and brother Paxton, 12, applied for an advanced art class in seventh grade and was accepted.

A collaborative approach to ceramics

Norah enjoys art but doesn’t plan to pursue it as a career. When she was in 10th grade, she created the ceramic bowl as part of a class assignment.

“I just did it for a class,” she said. “I wouldn’t call myself an artist.”

Her AP 3D studio art teacher, Sean Regalado, encouraged her to enter the competition, so she teamed up with fellow Redlands High student Benny Lin to refine the piece. Benny used a glazed pencil to draw power lines around the bowl before it was glazed in blue, fired, and glazed again.

“I thought it was beautiful,” Regalado said.

The process took time, but the collaboration paid off. Norah, who serves as president of the school’s PossAbilities club, later surprised Benny’s mother with the finished bowl as a gift.

“She really enjoyed it and was excited that Benny was asked to do it,” Norah said.

Youth Art Expo returns this May

This year’s Youth Art Expo will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 24, and Sunday, May 25, in Smiley Park.

Entries will be accepted from May 1 to May 10 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Redlands Art Association, 215 E. State St. An official entry form must accompany the artwork.

It is open to youth from kindergarten through 12th grade. Official rules can be picked up at the Redlands Art Association office.

Celebrating creativity in the community

Entries will be judged by a panel of professional artists. The art will be displayed that weekend in Smiley Park. Awards and cash prizes will be handed out at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 24.

Suzanne Burke is chair of the Margaret Clark Arts Education Enrichment Fund, which raises money to provide grants, scholarships, and awards to Redlands Unified School District students.

The Festival of Arts and the Redlands Art Association present the Art in the Park. The first Youth Art Expo was held in 2019, and the following year was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show resumed in 2022, and this will be its fourth year.

Burke said the art association generally receives artwork including drawings, watercolor, acrylics, collages, sculptures, jewelry, and other art forms.

“It is such a treat,” Burke said. “You never know what you are going to get.”

The Youth Art Expo was founded by Annette Weis, and Sandy Davies serves as the Art in the Park coordinator for the festival, which features both adult and youth artists.

There is no entry fee for the Youth Art Expo. For information, call the art association at (909) 792-8435.