38th Young At Art Exhibition Opens in Hilo Featuring Island Student Winners

The 38th annual Young At Art exhibition opened in Hilo at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, with an awards ceremony and a gallery of student work representing schools and communities from across Hawaiʻi Island. The event marked nearly four decades of an island-wide showcase that brings student artists into a public exhibition setting.

Organizers staged the awards ceremony alongside the exhibition to honor island student winners, highlighting work from elementary through high school age groups. The combination of recognition and on-site display gave winners visibility in Hilo, where the opening drew family members, teachers, and community supporters to see pieces from across the island.

As a long-running showcase, Young At Art serves as one of the primary public platforms for Hawaiʻi Island students to present creative work beyond the classroom. The continuity of the 38th edition signals sustained community investment in arts education on the island and creates tangible opportunities for students to build portfolios and receive public acknowledgement of their work.

Bringing student art from disparate parts of the island to a single Hilo exhibition addresses access and equity in arts exposure; the opening explicitly included entries from students across Hawaiʻi Island rather than a single district. That geographic breadth matters for students who may attend smaller or more remote schools and otherwise have fewer chances to exhibit in a central town like Hilo.

The awards ceremony and exhibition on Feb. 21 continued Young At Art’s role in connecting schools, families, and civic spaces on the Big Island. By putting student winners on public view in Hilo, the 38th Young At Art renewed a visible pathway for youth creative development and community recognition across Hawaiʻi Island.