By Ainsley Northrop

People Editor

On Mar. 31, the New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU) is set to open their annual Santa Clara County Juried High School Exhibition. Also known as ArtNow, this event will showcase local student-made artwork for the public to view inside of the museum until June 25. Selected artwork takes many forms, including ceramics, painting, and digital photography.

This year’s ArtNow theme is “Unarmed Truth,” and the museum’s official prompt was to “create an original work of art that reveals a personal or universal truth.” A group of interns called the ArtNow Teen Council at the museum played a role in deciding the theme.

The exhibit will feature work from the following LGHS students: junior Sydney Chandler, senior Liam Matthiasson, senior Cal Railo, junior Rocky Rodriguez, junior Cynthia Wang, and senior Kathryn Wright. 

Railo specializes in ceramics and has taken the LGHS ceramics class for two years. He explained that prior to joining the class he had only a small amount of experience and further detailed his inspiration for joining: “I’ve always thought that wheel throwing was really cool, and I’ve always found it interesting. I ended up just really loving the class and wanting to continue it because it’s a lot of fun.” Railo explained his love for art, saying, “I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an artist all of the time, but when I’m in the class, I just really feel like I can do what I feel like doing, and I’m not restricted.” He further elaborated that art allows students including himself to express themselves without boundaries and creates a sense of acceptance. 

Railo’s piece that will debut at ArtNow is a large handmade bowl. Not only did he pour countless hours into the piece during class, but Railo also put an immense amount of thought into it. He elaborated on the inspiration for his bowl, saying “It was inspired by my own identity, because I’m trans…I was trying to represent my own journey in figuring out who I was [through] the art piece.” He used various techniques to decorate the bowl in order to achieve his goal of portraying the personal theme of self-discovery. These artistic techniques include hand painting, stencils, and more. Railo also incorporated personal interests into the piece.“There’s a lot of fish on there because that’s just something I like.” By incorporating his love for learning about the ocean along with some of his favorite artistic techniques, Railo was able to create a beautiful collage of expression on his bowl.

Railo’s bowl is just one of the many student-created pieces that will be on display at the ArtNow event. Not only is the exhibit open until the end of June, but museum entry is free to Los Gatos residents, making the event even more accessible to the community.