Mariel Gale, winner (“Best in Show”) of the 2010 Island-wide Student Art Contest, has attended Idyllwild Arts Academy, a residential high school for the arts, since September 2013.

She was accepted by this unique school in the dramatic mountains of Southern California after attending the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program in Film Making in the summer of 2013. The Summer Film Making Program’s Chair recommended her for the academy.

Teachers and classmates from Madrona Waldorf School, Odyssey Middle School and Mosaic Home Education Partnership will remember Mariel’s exceptional artistic talent. She is thrilled by the chance to develop her gifts under the mentoring of Idyllwild Arts Academy’s outstanding teaching artists.

The academy is a comfortable home away from home for arts-loving teenagers from around the world. Every student takes challenging college-prep academic classes in the morning and then devotes the afternoon to arts classes in his or her chosen discipline: visual arts, classical music, jazz, songwriting, theatre, moving pictures, dance, creative writing or fashion design.

Jara Ruiz-Anchia, assistant dean of admission at the academy, will visit Bainbridge Island on Saturday, Oct. 25. Parents and students interested in meeting Ruiz-Anchia and learning more about Idyllwild Arts Academy can contact her at 951-659-2171, ext. 2347, or at jranchia@idylwildarts.org.