As Sunnylands President David Lane put it, Walter and Leonore Annenberg “cared a great deal about supporting and encouraging art.”

Their priceless collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Paul Gauguin, was donated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York upon Walter Annenberg’s death in 2002, so it could be enjoyed by the public.  In the Sunnylands trust, they made the estate available as a meeting place to “leaders and distinguished practitioners” of art, culture, and other disciplines for the healthy exchange ideas in their fields.

“Even in the modern era, as we pursue the mission they gave us to bring people together to focus on global problems, we always have an artistic and cultural component to our gatherings, because art is a critical way to express ideas and express feelings and an important way that we communicate with each other,” Lane said. “The Annenbergs would be very pleased and proud that we were able to bring you together today.”

And so, it was only fitting that dozens of high school artists and their families from throughout the 25th Congressional District of California, which encompasses Imperial County and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, gathered at Sunnylands Center & Gardens on Tuesday, April 15, for a special awards ceremony.

Rep. Raul Ruiz had come to announce the winners of the district’s Congressional Art Competition.  The top winner is awarded with a trip to Washington, D.C., and their artwork is hung in the halls of the nation’s capital for a year.

The winners are:

• 1st Place: Cassandra De La Rosa of San Jacinto High School for “Are You Lost in the Motion?”
• 2nd Place: Tenzing Carvahlo of Western Center Academy for “The Gaze: Portrait of a Hispanic American Boy”
• 3rd Place: Anabelle Morales of Brawley Union High School for “Natures Armor”

Speaking to students and their families, Ruiz said all the entrants should be congratulated for their courage and bravery. “It’s hard to be your authentic self and express your authentic self into a piece of art and have other people judge it,” he said. “So, I really want to applaud you for breaking through that fear and putting your heart and soul into a piece of work that shows how beautiful you are and your talents are.”