Art students from John Pirie Secondary School, St Mark’s Coll-ege, Gladstone High School and Booleroo Centre District School were involved.

Booleroo Centre student Ben Nicholls won the night’s top award which offered a prize of $1000.

Ben entered a graphic design piece where he created a range of shirts.

He is moving to Adelaide this year to study graphic design at TAFE and will put his prizemoney towards his studies.

Former St Mark’s College student Kylie Capurso won the Encouragement in Design Award for her photographic pieces.

She said it was a great surprise.

“I used a special setting on my camera to capture the light,” she said. “I was blown away that it had actually worked for me.”

Kylie said she wanted to show people that photography could be used in different creative ways.

She will use her $200 prize towards the cost of a new camera. Fellow student Roberta Camp-oreale received the Encouragement Award, but was unable to attend the display.

Spokeswoman for the judging panel Jan Pana said it was hard to find a winner because of the diversity of their work. “Each piece is unique,” she said.

“We want to encourage more students to take an interest in art.”

While praising the entries, Ms Pana said Kylie had moved into abstract work

“She is exploring a medium,” she said. “That is what’s so nice about it.”

She also enjoyed Roberta’s work. “She is a very good draftsperson,” she said. “We liked her drawing skills and ability to paint.”