AP Art students stepped out and got a taste of the city-wide high school art world this week. All 10 students in Linda Blasdel’s AP Art class were required to submit three of their original pieces to Avila’s High School Art Show Feb. 23-28.

Students’ selected works were then reviewed by Avila’s art department and were chosen to be displayed, depending on which piece fit into the specific categories, according to senior Emma Allegri. Allegri, along with seniors Maggie Keenan, Katy Zahner and junior Hannah Snyder, was chosen among students across the city to have her art exhibited in the show.

“I was selected to represent watercolor, and when I found out at first I didn’t believe it,” Allegri said. “I felt like I accomplished something and seeing my art work in the Avila gallery was awesome.”

Keenan said that in the past, Blasdel only recommended that her students enter their work in to the Avila competition, but this year decided to make it a requirement for all of the AP girls. The competition is open for all high school art students in the Kansas City area, with the reward of scholarships for winners, if they choose to attend Avila University in the future.

Though Keenan is not planning on carrying on her college art career at Avila, she says that she enjoyed the experience of participating in the art show.

“It is an important and educational opportunity, and is also a chance to display my work on a college campus among other qualified high school artists, which is exciting,” Keenan said.

The opening reception for the show was Feb. 23 in the Avila Thornhilll Gallery, and Portfolio Art and AP Art students took a field trip to the show on Feb. 26 to support their Sion sisters whose talent was recognized and displayed on the walls of Avila’s gallery.