Three Nogales High School students swept the awards at an exhibition sponsored by the Tubac Center of the Arts.

Senior Mario D’Gyves won the Award of Excellence and $50 for his “pewter” bust of a woman.

There were about 69 participants in the Hi-Art Santa Cruz Valley High School Student Art Exhibition held May 1-24 in Tubac.

Jesus Rosas, who graduated this year from NHS garnered Best of Show with the most unlikely piece, said James Sonny Peters, a NHS art teacher.

“He had drawn a car,” Peters said. “You know, most kids like drawing cars. But I guess he was not happy with his work because I had to retrieve it from the garbage can.

“I told him, ‘Take this and do something different with it,’” Peters said.

Rosas did just that. He took water colors to the piece and allowed them to drip down the page like a curtain of soapy water. He called it “Car Wash,” and it brought him a $100 prize.

Fellow senior Mario D’Gyves brought home the Award of Excellence and $50 for his “pewter” bust of a woman sporting a tight bun. The resulting glazed metallic silver and lead colored sculpture is simple yet elegant.

Sophomore David Duran won the Award of Merit with his ballpoint drawing titled “Contemplation.” His work helped him land a part-time job as a teacher’s assistant at the center in Tubac.

Peters and his NHS colleague Judy Ruhlman submitted 20 pieces created by their students.

“I want to give special thanks to the organizers,” Peters said, explaining that the deadline for submitting the art was the same weekend of the Charles Mingus Jazz Festival and two other shows he and others were participating in.

“They really worked with us and were very flexible and accommodating,” he said. “I appreciated that.”