Tomorrow’s Picassos

A portrait shot by a local high school senior has won an award in the annual exhibition co-hosted by the Burbank parks department and the Burbank Fine Arts Federation.

John Burroughs High School 12th-grader Juan Alcantar’s studio photograph of his sister Angela dressed as a mime is being shown in Youth Art Expo 2011. The exposition’s opening reception took place Thursday at the Burbank Creative Arts Center Gallery.

“I’ve always wanted to take a picture of a mime,” Juan said. “Angela was pretending she was in a box. I drew the box around her.”

His teacher was very proud.

“I think it’s clever,” said Bonnie Burrow, Juan’s photography teacher. “Juan is a clever photographer and a good student.”

The show includes artwork from Burbank students in kindergarten through 12th grades in public and private schools. The middle and high school opening reception was Thursday night, while the elementary school opening reception was Friday night. There are more than 200 works on display chosen from 1,300 entries submitted by 95 teachers. The show ends April 21.

Each student received a medallion and award-winners were presented with trophies and certificates for free art classes through the city of Burbank, said Regi Cutler, recreation supervisor.

Student entries ranged from paintings, paper-mâché and ceramics to paper mosaics and scratch board.

Some of the highlights were Briana Torres’ ice cream cone turned upside-down and Juliana Venlo’s painting of her dog Patrik with a real tennis ball set in his mouth.