News

Fifteen Santa Catalina School students received recognition in the 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards regional competition.

Two students received Gold Key awards, the top prize: Eva Xu ’28 for painting and Isabell Fujita ’26 for photography. Both entries automatically go on to national judging.

[See all winning artwork]

In all, students received 20 awards in the contest. Here is the full list of winners:

Gold Key
Isabell Fujita ’26 — photography, “Windows”
Eva Xu ’28 — painting, “The South China Water Village”

Silver Key
Erika Xia ’26 — digital, “Snowy Plover Awareness”
Gloria Arastapour ’26 — painting, “Fragments of Identity”
Eva Xu ’28 — drawing, “Ginko Leaf”
Kendall Beffa ’25 — photography, “Haze”
Tori Pureco ’26 — photography, “The Unknown”

Honorable Mention
Romina Batiz Coppel ’26 — painting, “Metamorphosis”
Kendall Beffa ’25 — painting, “The House” and “Then and Now”
Hannah Brown ’25 — painting, “Deconstructed Self Portrait”
Jasmine Choi ’25 — painting, “Hacienda Study”
Fiona Fang ’28 — painting, “What Am I Looking For”
Cynthia Qin ’28 — painting, “Echoes of Tales”
Grace Berry ’26 — photography, “Cotton Candy”
Suhana Dail ’26 — photography, “Watching the Birds”
Jiya Mehtani ’26 — photography, “Chinatown”
Tori Pureco ’26 — photography, “Perspective”
Julia Seldner ’27 — photography, “A Morning on the Sea”
Erika Xia ’26 — photography, “Arc”

The California Central Coast Art Region is the largest and most competitive in the country, with 25 counties stretching from Monterey County in the south to Napa in the north and across the width of the state.

Above: "Windows" by Isabell Fujita. Top: "The South China Water Village" by Eva Xu.