MISSION — Student artists ages six to 18 filled the gallery walls and pedestals at  Tamástslikt Cultural Institute (Tamástslikt) with works in a variety of styles for the 13th ArtWORKz Junior Art Show and Competition.

Artists gathered at the institute on April 18 for a reception and award ceremony. Judges scored entries on artistry, creative vision, technical merit and presentation. Daisy Minthorn, Roberta Lavadour and Jim Lavadour judged all submissions.

“Amazing craftsmanship from this year’s artists,” the judges wrote in a statement. “Good use of color and abstract themes! Impressive and complex uses of various mediums. Many pieces could have been selected for awards; always remember that art is subjective. Good work by all of the contestants.”

The exhibit of student artwork opened on April 3 and runs through May 16.

Tamástslikt Director Bobbie Conner said 58 submissions were considered in the competition, though in the past, that number has been as high as 120.

“It depends on how many other shows are going on at the same time; sometimes there are other art shows at the same time and we end up competing with other calendars,” she said. “When we were getting really high numbers, it was getting harder to give them their space to give them proper attention, so we started limiting them to one (submission) per artist.”

Conner said all forms of art are accepted for consideration in the competition, including two-dimensional, three-dimensional and poetry, which have been submitted in the past. She even said spoken word would be considered, though it would probably have to be submitted in video format.

The three grand prize winners across age brackets worked in different mediums.

Marceline Gottfriedson Garcia, 10, won the 10-and-under division with “Hot to Cold,” a necklace she created during a three-day road trip. Nettie Sheoships, 13, took the grand prize winner for the 11-14 division with “Spring Fox,” an acrylic painting of a fox leaping across a green field at night with rolling hills in the background.

In the 15-18 year-old bracket, Lokaa Tso, 17, won the grand prize ribbon with “Bracelet,” a beadwork piece.

Manaia “Tiwininmay” Wolf, 17, earned the award of merit in the 15-18 division and the grand champion ribbon for her acrylic painting “The Inquiring Maiden,” which depicts a heron with vibrant colors and fine line work.

Wolf said she was inspired by a picture she saw of a heron and its position.

“I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll do a portrait of that in my own way,’” Wolf said. “I just did it how I thought it would look good.”

“The Inquiring Maiden” is the translation of her name and found that the piece was a reflection of herself in a way, she added.

“My favorite part (of the heron) is probably the head, I liked all of the details I put into it, and the eye area, because that’s what caught my eye when I looked at the bird, because it was so focused,” she said.

Wolf said she has been painting in acrylics at this level of intricacy since her freshman year and is now a senior at Athena-Weston.

“I’m kind of getting back into doing art, I’ve been focused on courses for the past two-ish years, so getting back into art was nice — it’s the first big project I’ve done in a while,” she said. “It’s just such a relaxing thing for me, it really clears my head.”

Tamástslikt Assistant Director for Operations Randall Melton said his favorite part of the ArtWORKz Junior Art Show and Competition was setting up the gallery and seeing the variety in the submissions from the students.

“Every year, you don’t know what you’re getting, how you’re going to set things up until the week we’re ready to open,” Melton said. “We’ll come in here and organize them by age group, and just seeing the different types of art that the kids are coming up with, it’s the best.”

Conner said her favorite part of the competition was having the students get to see their art in a gallery setting professionally.

“The idea that they may create art alone, they may create art in a classroom, but bringing the pieces together with other youths allows them to see not only the validation of their inspiration and their creation and how they manifested, but it also gives them the opportunity to enjoy being public about their art,” she said.

Conner said many of the entries return every year, including some who have competed from elementary school, through high school and later started families with children of their own. She said it was exciting to witness over the past 14 years.

“ArtWORKz is a place for not only school art teachers to bring their students’ work, but for individuals and families to create and present,” Conner said. “It’s exciting to see that representation.”