ArtNow is an annual juried Santa Clara County high school art exhibition and educational program, presented by New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU). The ArtNow Exhibition and supporting programs offer opportunities for high school student artists, from Palo Alto to Gilroy, to gain real-world experience in participating in a juried museum exhibition. Each year, a new theme is chosen for the exhibition and students are asked to submit works based on that theme. $10,000 in scholarships and awards are given to participating students.
Now in its tenth year, ArtNow will be entirely virtual in 2021, presenting a new opportunity for emerging artists to gain exposure through virtual presentations of their artwork, online gatherings to celebrate their accomplishments, and a commemorative exhibition catalog. Stay tuned for an exciting series of programs that will help young artists get noticed and launch their artistic careers.
This year, NUMU invites Santa Clara County high school students to create an original work of art in response to the exhibition theme: Good Trouble.
From his activist work as a Freedom Rider marching on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, to his decades-long legislative work on the Voting Rights Act, Congressman John Lewis (1940-2020) never strayed from his pursuit of justice and equality. New Museum Los Gatos honors the battle and the achievements of this acclaimed leader by inviting high school student artists from Santa Clara County to render and submit their interpretations of Lewis’ call to “make some noise and get in good trouble.”
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”—John Lewis on the ongoing fight for equal rights, 2018
