Editorials

The office of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) announced this week that Berkeley High School student Naomi Drexler is the ninth congressional district winner of the annual Congressional Art Competition, the third time a BHS student has won the award in recent years. 

Drexler’s entry was selected over 25 other artworks submitted by high school students throughout the East Bay district. 

Drexler’s winning work, “Eyes of Sorrow,” a portrait of a young East Indian woman, will hang in the U.S. Capitol building during the “An Artistic Discovery” competition’s year-long exhibit. 

“We are very proud to have Naomi’s work represent our district in the capitol,” Lee said in a released statement. “This is a great opportunity to highlight the ways that art education can enrich the lives of our young people.” 

Berkeley Unified School District Public Information Officer Mark Coplan said, “We’re really excited to see another Berkeley High School student win this award.”  

He said that the number of Berkeley High winners over the past few years “is in part attributable to the talent of these young artists, and in part attributable to the existing fine arts program at Berkeley High School that is not available in many other local high schools. And with a new fine arts small school opening up next year, we believe that there will be even more opportunities for upcoming young artists in our area.” 

The Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA) is scheduled to begin operation at Berkeley High in the fall. 

J