Art students from six area high schools will battle it out for the top spot at the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts’ second annual “Battle of the Walls” exhibit.

The show opens at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and features work from Bridges, Coal Ridge, Glenwood Springs, Rifle, Roaring Fork and Yampah Mountain high schools. The submitting students will be judged and given individual prizes, and schools will be given overall prizes. Seniors are also eligible for a separate award: a $1,000 scholarship from the Glenwood Springs Art Guild.

Christina Brusig, executive director of the Center for the Arts, said the exhibit is not only an opportunity for the public to see some great work from young people in the community, but it’s important to the mission of the Center.

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“You can find your artistic capabilities at any age, but this is the perfect age for us to encourage them to develop their skills in the arts,” Brusig said. “And I think it’s important that we’re collaborating with the Art Guild. This scholarship gives them an opportunity to go to college to study art.”

“Battle of the Walls” stemmed from a show they used to do called the “Valley Kids Art Exhibit.” At that show, students from a wider variety of grade levels were able to submit work. Brusig said it was intensive for the Center for the Arts staff to hang, and most of the best work came from high school students, so they decided to change the show’s format.

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“We reach out to all area high schools, basically everyone from Eagle to Aspen to Rifle, and we make it a full gallery experience,” Brusig said.

Submitting students hang the work themselves, and their presentation is part of what the judges look at when choosing award winners. The other criteria are originality and execution of the work.

Brusig said the show features a wide variety of media, including charcoal, sculpture, 3-D, mixed media, oil and more.

“I’ve already been told by members of the community that it’s our best show this year,” Brusig said.