![]() |
| The Garden (installation view) |
![]() |
| The Garden (detail) |
![]() |
| Mikhaila in the Studio |
Fall 2012 Oxbow student Mikhaila Quezada-Freda earned silver and two gold keys from The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards administered through the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. She won a silver key for her portfolio overall and gold keys for her Oxbow Project X (Humboldt County Weather Map, mixed media) and Oxbox Final Project (Tangled Map, sculpture).
Napa Valley Register: 10 Questions - Head of School Seeks Creative Side of Students
By Jennifer Huffman
October 16, 2012
Stephen Thomas is the founding director and head of school at the Oxbow School in Napa. Oxbow is a visual arts–oriented, one-semester boarding school located in downtown Napa. Thomas, who has been an educator since 1984, described what he likes about working with high school students. “Their never-ending creativity,” as well as their idealism, energy and hope, he said. To read full article and his responses to all 10 questions click on the above link.
Lake Oswego senior Elise Wunderlich earns a national Portfolio Gold Award for her art accomplishments. The Portfolio Gold Award is the highest level of achievement in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the country’s longest-running and most prestigious award and recognition program for creative teenagers. She is one of just 15 high school seniors in the country honored with the Portfolio Gold Award, which includes a $10,000 cash prize.
"She credits her success to the intensive program she attended this fall at Oxbow in Napa, Calif. “Oxbow encouraged her to look at a wide variety of media which included performance art and sculpture,” said Katie Brink, one of Wunderlich’s art teachers at Lake Oswego High School." See the full article in the The Lake Oswego Review, Mar 22, 2012.

Delyn Phanor was April's featured young artist by Artists for Humanity. Check out his interview followed by a video created in their Graphics Department starring Delyn as he pays homage to Micron pens! Go to the link above for the complete article.
Oxbow opened me up to what was out there in the world to go out and grab, and gave me so much that I take with me everywhere I go, with everything I do.
— Nina Palomba, Spring 2008
Oxbow forced me to create, and by creating, I established foundation for my thought.
— Jamie Roux, Spring 2003
The art that goes on in most high schools is usually relatively skill-based. At Oxbow, there is more emphasis on looking and seeing and more critical thinking about what you are doing, the human connection, that personal element. Through art you can begin to understand yourself better. That may be the biggest eye-opener for students. It is almost a preview of college. Get out of the mechanical factory high school education and get into something open, new, and invigorating in a small environment.
— Bill Barrett, Former Oxbow Board Member, Former Executive Director of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD)

A School Like No Other