Signs reading “PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE ART” filled the Agoura Hills Recreation and Event Center on the evening of March 22.

Students, teachers, parents and members of the Conejo Valley community convened to admire (but not touch) artwork crafted by students.

460 pieces from students spanning nine schools in the Conejo Valley area were judged on the categories of 2-D fine art, 3-D fine art, color photography or monochrome photography. Oak Park High School seniors Natalie Evoniuk, Arielle Saida, Maya Swartz and Reyna Yang each won awards.

According to art teacher Anna Bojorquez, the Westlake Village Art Guild and the Agoura Hills Cultural Arts Council hold an annual blindly-judged art show for juniors and seniors.

Though submitting work and being judged may be nerve-wracking, Bojorquez wrote that she believes that “when our students are this talented, their work needs to be seen.”

Bojorquez shared that Oak Park students represented the school with their talent and creativity.

“I was really impressed by [the 2-D art], [the 3-D art] was very detailed and the photography was amazing,” junior and 3-D artist Zara Aiken said. Aiken took part in the competition with her pieces, “Untitled” and “Inanimate But Living.”

Junior and friend of Aiken’s, Jenna Violano, also attended the event.

“Everybody’s art is beautiful, and I loved my friend’s art a lot. It just shows her personality and what she loves. She spends so much time on the art that she makes and I am so proud of her,” Violano said. “It’s so difficult, and the fact that they can make such beautiful pieces is amazing.”

According to Bojorquez, seeing the finalized art hung on the walls of the recreation and event center beside a tag reading, “Oak Park High School” is enough to make her smile.

“I am so proud of my students. I know how hard they’ve worked. Each piece has a lot of thought, planning, shading, problem solving and choices to be made,” Bojorquez wrote. “To see the end result fills me with so much happiness.”