Adrianna Villasenor hopes to see one of her pieces make it to the Manteca Unified Art Show.

This is the annual event featuring the best of the best by art students from East Union High, Manteca High, Sierra High, Lathrop High, Weston Ranch High, and Calla High.

The district art show is set for next week (Tuesday, May 1, from 4 to 7 p.m.) at the MUSD Administration Building on Louise Avenue just west of Airport Way.

Villasenor, who is a senior at East Union, is a second-year art student in Jeff Moring’s Advanced Art class. Three months ago, she started working on her abstract painting of a person conducted in rich colors.

“I stopped working on it,” she said at Tuesday’s Visual and Performing Arts Show otherwise known as Evening of the Arts. “I picked it back up about a month ago.”

It took her about a week to finally finish the piece. Villasenor was stunned to discover that her painting claimed a first-place award at the East Union art event.

“I’m surprised because there’s a lot of good art work here,” she added.

According to long-time ceramics instructor Kim Ray, the art pieces by the students were judged based on craftsmanship, originality, use of elements and principles, and use of material to “the best of their abilities,” she said.

Ray along with Moring, and digital arts teacher Brian Stevens served as judges.

About 120 pieces by Ray’s Intro and Advanced Ceramic classes along with 120 more from the other genres were placed on display inside the Black Box Theater, lobby, and the adjacent band room.

Drama students in Annette Taser’s classes did a scene from Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” while the school choir and band under the directions of Anne Talcott and Terry Silveira, respectively, also performed.

Meanwhile, one of the top art pieces was that of Dante Pasquini, who is in Moring’s Advanced Art class.

His mixed media series of work earned Best of Show.