One hundred and sixty one young artists from area schools exhibited their work in the 19th annual Youth Art Fair at Glenbrook South High School on February 2nd. The event was sponsored by the Glenview Art League. Among the more unusual entries the fair included marble painting and wire sculptures. A special exhibit by Mara Lovisetto's third grade class at Hickory Point School was entitled Cool Globes. The class transformed two discarded classroom globes into sculptural earths with special messages about helping our planet.

The judges had a hard time choosing winners from among the many talented artists. After much deliberation, the winners were:

First grade: 1st, Nicholas Peneff, 2nd, Rachel Luo of Lyon School, 3rd, Karina Benson.

Second grade: 1st, Eric Schmit of The Art School in Glenview, 2nd, Nicole Basil of McKenzie School, 3rd, Becky Lee of The Art School.

Third grade: 1st, Eliz Agkun of The Art School, 2nd, Reily Jesser of The Art School, tied for 3rd, Ryan Sasaki of Lions Park School and Kaylyn Du of Meadowbrook School.

Fourth grade: 1st, Lauren Benson, 2nd, Erika Bim of Washington Elementary, 3rd, Victoria Sorin of Middleton School.

Fifth grade: 1st, Harrison Swanson of The Art School, 2nd, Katherine Borg of Sabina Studios, 3rd, Neeka Haack of Village Art School.

Sixth grade: Tied for 1st, Sally Alvarado of Sabina Studios and Isabelle Trier of Washington Elementary. Isabelle was also awarded Best of Show. 2nd, Rachel Weisbecker of Evanston Arts Center and Sabina Studios, tied for 3rd, Andrew Blank of Northbrook Junior High and Claire Hogan of Village Art School.

Seventh grade: 1st, Melanie Vujovich of Lincoln Hall, 2nd, Michael Kinsella of Northbrook Junior High, 3rd, Riana Vujovich of Lincoln Hall.

Eighth grade: 1st, David Han of The Art School, 2nd, Mackenzie Rech of The Art School, 3rd, Kevin Neuhengen of Sabina Studios.

The judges were so impressed with the first prize high school winner that they juried her into the adult summer fair. She is Stephanie Kang of Christian Liberty Academy. Other high school winners were: 2nd, Annie Raccuglia of Loyola Academy, 3rd, Eunbee Lee of The Art School, Honorable Mention, Yein Kwak of The Art School, Allie Mendelson of Sabina Studios, and Brianna Neilsen of Sabina Studios.

The Youth Art Fair is held every year in February. The date of the 2009 fair will be announced in the fall of 2008.