Young Artists' Showcase is a juried, all-media exhibition of artwork created by high school students between 15 and 19 years old residing within 150 miles of the St. Louis Artists' Guild. The annual Young Artists' Showcase has supported artistically inclined students for over 60 years. We aim to promote a career in the visual arts while providing an opportunity to exhibit in a professional gallery. 

About the Juror - William Neukomm

Born William H. Neukomm in 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri, Bill began his figurative studies at the St. Louis Artists' Guild while still in high school. At the Kansas City Art Institute, Bill continued to draw and paint the figure, drawing more than thirty self portraits. While ultimately receiving his B.F.A. in graphic design, drawing remained an important part of Bill's work. Back in St. Louis, Bill returned to the St. Louis Artists' Guild where he met Billyo O'Donnell and Jason Dowd, two artists who helped tremendously in the development of his painting.

Work took Bill to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he spent more than 10 years as a designer creating award-winning posters and campaigns. All the while, Bill continued to paint portraits, self portraits, and still life paintings.

A summer course with Dana Levin and Jura Bedic at the Florence Academy of Art, and another with David Leffel at the Art Students League of New York, helped convince Bill that a return to school was necessary to achieve the skills he desired.

In 2010 Bill quit his job, sold most of his possessions, uprooted his wife and children, and enrolled in the Florence Academy of Art, where he spent two years pursuing his interest in realist painting. A firm believer in the importance of craft in art, Bill has continually sought out artists, past and present, from whom he could learn and improve. It is his belief that the skills aquired through rigorous observation of nature are as essential to the painter as a firm command of language is to the writer.