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Artists attending Windsor High School are being highlighted as part of the Rawls Museum Arts’ Regional High School Art Exhibition that features the work of students from across seven high schools in the region.

The exhibition runs from May 7-30 at Rawls Museum Arts (RMA), which is located at 22376 Linden St. Extended in Courtland.

Three WHS students were recognized with awards during the exhibition’s opening reception Wednesday, May 7, and they included MK Emerson, Eden Powell and Samyra Ward.

RMA Interim Executive Director Jane Riddick-Fries welcomed the crowd attending the reception, sharing insights on the museum and its purpose.

“The mission of the Rawls Museum Arts is to promote, encourage, develop interest in, knowledge of, appreciation for and practice of the arts while providing collective cultural enrichment for the community,” she said. “Since its inception in 1958, Rawls Museum Arts has aimed to enrich the lives of people in our area by fostering a love for and engagement with the arts.”

She introduced RMA’s new art education director, Holly Gizzi.

Gizzi said, “We’re honored to be here, all of us tonight, to celebrate Southampton High School, Tidewater Academy, Sussex Central High School, Windsor High School, Surry (County) High School and also Southampton Academy and Franklin High School.

“First and foremost we should be thanking the students,” she said. “Your courage to show up, create and share your unique vision is inspiring.”

“I think the thing that I talked about with a couple of the high schools that I went to visit was you don’t even realize that just by hanging your work on this wall how you inspire others,” she continued. “You may never know. They may tell you, you may never find out, but you could be inspiring new artists. Art comes in every shape and size, so you just don’t know who you’re inspiring. Therefore it’s that important that you show up and put yourself out there. So we appreciate that.”

She thanked parents for their support, art teachers for their passion and dedication, and administrators for valuing education and helping make opportunities like the RMA’s Regional High School Art Exhibition accessible.

“Tonight is a celebration of how art empowers and inspires us all,” she said. “It opens minds, sparks growth and invites connection. The variety of work here, the 3D, the photography and the 2D in countless mediums — it is extraordinary. Each piece contributes to a vibrant collective voice. Students, please keep creating. Your voice and your vision matters.”

Gizzi noted that there were four different judges of the exhibition’s artwork, resulting in four sets of awards. Franklin City exclusively judged the work of Franklin students. Beth Netts is an accomplished artist, designer and educator based in Suffolk who served as a main judge of the exhibition. The Blackwater Artists League judged the exhibition, as did the RMA staff.

Netts’ second-place award for 2D artwork went to Emerson for her work titled “Memento Viva.” It features, among other things, a skull, a dark backdrop and a flame casting light across much of the image she drew. Netts added some comments on why she liked the piece.

“A very good handling of a very typical object that we see in art,” Netts said, “and I like the way your light was done in it and being able to keep that and still have that light against dark in your work.”

The RMA staff’s third-place award for 2D artwork went to Powell for her work titled “Cape Lookout Lighthouse.”

Ward was among those receiving honorable mention from the RMA staff. She was recognized for her work titled “National Defenders.”