Medford’s Rogue Gallery & Art Center will display the work of more than 100 high school artists from across the Rogue Valley as part of its annual “Best of the Best” art exhibit.

Shared between the art exhibit spaces of the Rogue Gallery, the Grants Pass Museum of Art and the Southern Oregon University Center for the Visual Arts galleries, student paintings from 14 different high schools are selected by art teachers who choose the top 10 artworks from their students.

Participating high schools include Armadillo Community Charter School, Ashland High School, Crater Renaissance Academy, Eagle Point High School, Grants Pass High School, Hidden Valley High School, Illinois Valley High School, Logos Charter School, North Medford High School, North Valley High School, Phoenix High School, Rogue River High School, South Medford High School and St. Mary’s School.

With 2024 being Rogue Gallery’s turn to host the student art show, organizers are eager to lend their exhibit space to highlight the creative work of the surrounding community’s adolescents.

“We’re always interested to see the artist’s side of what’s going on with teenagers; art’s an amazing outlet for them,” said Kristen O’Neill, interim executive director of the Rogue Gallery.

The “Best of the Best” exhibit will be available for viewing at Rogue Gallery & Art Center, 40 S. Bartlett St., Medford, from Friday, April 19, through May 2.

The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

The exhibit will be open until 8 p.m. Friday, April 19, for an artist’s reception during Medford’s Third Friday event, to launch the show and invite student and community artists an opportunity to admire the creative work and converse.

An artist herself who experienced the opportunity to see her compositions hung up on local gallery walls as a high schooler in Santa Cruz, Calif., O’Neill wants to continue providing that opportunity for Rogue Valley’s teens.

“It can really be a wonderful moment to let teenagers shine, because so many people are hard on teens,” O’Neill said. “Art can be so personal and so vulnerable too, because you’re taking what’s inside of you out for anyone to see; it’s a really important event for them in a variety of ways, and having your art in a gallery for the first time, it’s like reaching a certain threshold.”

“It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to celebrate them,” O’Neill added.

Now in its fourth decade, the “Best of the Best” show participants can potentially be awarded Recognition of Excellence prizes for the top-rated art pieces selected by a panel of judges, and the students will be able to list their participation in the exhibit on resumes and college applications and continue a career in the arts.

“The gallery’s mission is to enliven the individual and enrich the community through inspirational visual art experiences, so our primary mission as a community art gallery is right in line with this exhibit,” O’Neill said. “I think it’s important for us to celebrate these kids.”

To learn more about the “Best of the Best” show and the Rogue Gallery & Art Center, visit roguegallery.org.