BROCKWAY — Local high school students who participated in Brockway Center for Arts & Technology’s after-school arts programming recently attended The Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 2026 Invitational Art Exhibition in Pittsburgh.
Fifteen students in grades 9-12 had artwork accepted into the exhibition, with 27 individual pieces represented overall. Each of the students attended ceramics or metals as part of BCAT’s Apprenticeship Training Program, a no-cost after-school opportunity for high school students to work with the center’s artists and create their own unique artwork in a respective discipline. Juniors and seniors were permitted to submit up to four original pieces, with many having more than one entry accepted, while freshmen and sophomores were able to submit up to three pieces. The exhibition received nearly 800 submissions from youth artists in the greater Pittsburgh region, with over 400 being accepted among 257 unique participants.
Stella Albers, a freshman at DuBois Area High School, received The Eleanor Friedberg Media Award for Sculpture and Ceramics – 1st Place at $350. Ellie Craig, a junior at DAHS, was awarded The Contemporary Craft Workshop Scholarship for Metal Arts. Fellow DuBois students whose work was featured in the exhibition include Kapono Endress, Maya Fatula, Nefeli Karali, Toryn Muth, and Ethan Wrighter.
Aubree Evans of Brookville Area High School won The Standard Clay Company Award of $250 for her ceramics work while Taylor Hasper received two awards for her work in clay – The Katya and David Meyer Award of $500 and The Andy Warhol Museum Emerging Artist Award of $500.
Others who had their work in metals or ceramics on display in MCG’s Kerr Gallery included Brockway Area High School’s Connor Carnahan and Lizzie Heverley, Ridgway Area High School’s Maddi Garvey and Khloe Uber-Havilland, Jeff Tech’s Samantha Snedden, and Emma Bunce of Brookville.
“We are very proud of the students that had their artwork showcased in this exhibition and I would like to commend the leadership and teaching of our artists at BCAT that have helped to instruct all of our art students,” BCAT Executive Director Derek Hansen said. “A congratulations goes out to all the winners from the MCG exhibition, but we are very proud of our local students that represented BCAT with very high standards.”
The Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild was founded by Bill Strickland in 1968. Today, MCG includes both a youth and arts program as well as a jazz program to promote creativity and educational opportunity for young artists. MCG is both a parent and a sister arts organization of BCAT, the latter being created as a rural application of Strickland’s vision.
BCAT’s Summer Arts Programming will begin its first of two three-week sessions on Monday, June 8. Local ninth through 12th graders can still register for this exciting and immersive arts experience.