Students from eight area high schools and colleges received awards in the 36th annual Central Texas Art Competition.

Nearly 600 entries were submitted for the competition, which is coordinated by the Temple College Visual Arts Department. Works accepted for the competition included original paintings, pen and ink, photography, ceramics, sculpture, drawings, prints and jewelry. The juror for the competition was O. Rufus Lovett, who teaches photography at Kilgore College and is a nationally recognized artist.

The competition offered a total of $1,800 in cash prizes to the student artists. In the college division, the $200 Best of Show Award went to Myrna Hawkins of Central Texas College for her ceramic piece titled “Zuni Inspired.” In the high school division, the Best of Show Award went to Lauren Jones of Georgetown High School for her photo titled “Bite.”

Six $100 Awards of Excellence were presented in each division. In the college division, these awards went to to Edgar Ortiz (University of Mary Hardin-Baylor) for an oil on canvas piece titled “Phone Booth Sweet Phone Booth,” Audrey Teakell (Temple College) for a photo titled “The Escape,” Gabrielle DeLaCruz (University of Mary Hardin-Baylor) for a mixed media piece titled “Amor-Eterno,” Sophia Anthony (Southwestern University) for an oil on canvas piece titled “Sloth,” Taylor Morrow (Temple College) for an oil on canvas piece titled “House of Memories,” and Ariba Khan (Temple College) for a ceramic piece titled “Quiet.”

Honorable Mention Awards of $50 were given to Stephen Steger of Temple College for a pen and ink drawing titled “By the Woodshed” and to Tyler King of Central Texas College for a clay piece titled “Pompeii.”

In the high school division, Awards of Excellence were given to Sara Waznik (Georgetown High School) for a photo titled “Cementation,” Esmeralda Gutierrez (East View High School) for a colored pencil piece titled “Domestic Live,” Isabella Immormino (Killeen High School) for a pencil work titled “Elegance,” Conan Gray (Georgetown High School) for a prismacolor piece titled “Unlikely,” Dahzia Morrison (Georgetown High School) for a photo titled “Tortilla Soup,” and Rachel Bondesen (Georgetown High School) for a photo titled “Threat Level Midnight.”

Honorable Mention Awards of $50 were given to Allen Sirois (Salado High School) for a mixed media piece titled “Recycla Goat,” and to Augustus Helpert (Georgetown High School) for a collage titled “Ark.”

Of the 584 works submitted for the competition, 172 were selected for an exhibition that will be on display in the gallery of the Temple College Visual Arts Complex at 2105 South 5th St. in Temple through December 1. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday or by appointment. Temple College will be closed for Thanksgiving Nov. 25-29.

The Central Texas Art Competition and Exhibition is sponsored by Altrusa International of Temple and the Temple South Rotary Club. It is one of the longest-running art competitions in Texas.