The 15th annual May art show of Diane Betz Granger's students will be on display in the front windows of Equity Plus Mortgage at 125 N. Market St. in Minerva throughout the month.
Fifty-one of the 70 eligible artists participated this year, and the top three awards were earned by three remarkable teens.
Doug Laubacher, 17, of Minerva, overwhelmed the judges with his ink masterpieces, winning Best of Show: Drawing for "Grand Entrance."
Doug has won numerous awards since beginning art lessons with Granger in September 2002. Most recently, he won second place in the 11th-grade category at the Carroll County Commission for the Advancement of the Arts Student Art Show, as well as the second top award for high-school students at the 2007 Algonquin Mill Festival art show.
Doug, son of Pete and Denise Laubacher, is home-schooled.
"Rock and Roll Royalty" won Runner-Up Best of Show: Drawing for Lloyd Raffle, 17, son of Chris and Andrea Raffle of Minerva.
Lloyd's collection of portrait subjects and skill in portraying them is always a judge's favorite. He has also earned many awards in various media during the years, studying with Granger for the past three and one-half years, and with Jan Syverson prior to that.
Lloyd's artwork was on display in April at both the Canton Museum of Art's Student Show, as well as the CCCAA Student Show. He is a junior at R.G. Drage Career Technical Center, studying graphic arts.
Katy Gantz won Best of Show: Painting for her oil portraits of friends and family. The daughter of Bill and Ida Gantz of Alliance, Katy is a senior at Marlington High School and will attend Columbus School of Art and Design in the fall.
Recently, Katy won the Golden Portfolio Award in a national art contest sponsored by Scholastic. Her winning work is currently on a national tour. Katy also received an Honorable Mention award at the Canton Museum of Art Student Show.
Katy began taking lessons with Granger in June 2006 and studied oil painting with Lynn Digby prior to that.
Due to Doug and Katy's level of professionalism in their artwork, the Master of Media award was created and presented to them in ink and oil respectively.
Other art students excelling their particular media were awarded Outstanding Media ribbons. They are: Acrylic - Judy Egnor and Scott Edwards; Pastel - Linda Crouse, Lynnette Gallina and Conor Freeland; Colored pencil - Chelsea Hardy and Elizabeth Hartmann; Ink - Nicole Everetts; Graphite - Lloyd Raffle; Charcoal/conte' - Brittany Coy; and Marker - Michael Laubacher.
Ribbons in drawing were awarded according to age groups, while the painting category consisted of portraits, pop art, pop art portraits, wildlife, still life, floral, landscape, seascape, nature, grisaille, and abstract. The Christmas category included both drawings and paintings.
The judges awarded each student an artist's best ribbon for each personal-best effort. All first-place winners went on to compete for Best of Show.
Granger thanks the judges, Linda Crouse and Kathy Ray, for their tremendous help in the setup of the art show, and, as always, Jon Rodgers for the use of his building for the display.
For more information, contact Granger at 330-868-3698.