Creek Week Art Contest Winners Announced

Community Selects People’s Choice Award Winner

Congratulations to the 2nd Annual Creek Week Art Contest winners. More than 60 people filled the Goleta Valley Library’s multipurpose room on September 27, for an art reception held to recognize the participants and reveal the winning artwork. This year’s theme “Goleta the Goodland, Thriving Habitats” inspired 59 artists this year to create pieces of art highlighting our creeks, watersheds, and ocean. The record number of submissions included a wide array of different mediums including paint, watercolor, photography, collages, mixed media, yarn, and more.

City of Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte had the impossible job of selecting the winners. She said, “I am wowed by the incredible talent that we have here in Goleta. These colorful and creative artworks highlight how fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful place! I look forward to seeing even more participants at next year’s Creek Week Art Contest here at the Goleta Valley Library.”

The judging was based on relevance to the theme, overall appearance, and originality.

Here are the 2023 Creek Week Art Contest Winners:

Children (6th grade and below)

1^st Place – Aishani Mishra
2^nd Place – Zoe Mac Donald
3^rd Place – Grace Johnsen
Honorable Mention – Siena Vanella

Teens (7th -12th grade)

1^st Place – Wylder Gordon
2^nd Place – Ava Zhang
3^rd Place – Rudy Gloo

Adults (18+)

1^st Place – Heather Frazier
2^nd Place – Jana Brody
3^rd Place – Paulette Ley
Honorable Mention – Merlie Samonte

A special “People’s Choice” category was added for the community to select their favorite art piece. The winner was Wylder Gordon who also took home 1^st place in the Teen category.

Thank you to everyone who participated.

Pictured above: People’s Choice AND Teen category 1st place winner Wylder Gordon

Children’s category 1st place winner Aishani Misha