Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen is asking Santa Clara County high school students to create and send in original art portraying butterflies for this year’s “Justice for All” Art Contest.
The student art will be used to decorate the DA’s Mariposas Resiliency Center—a newly expanded center based in Gilroy to provide help to victims of violent crime, says a press release from the DA’s office.
The Mariposas Resiliency Center, formerly the Gilroy Strong Resiliency Center, will provide comprehensive support to survivors of violent crime, including on-site mental health and advocacy services.
The winner of the “Justice for All” contest will receive $1,500.
All art mediums are welcome: paint, pencil, charcoal, photography, graphic design and more, says the press release.
The Mariposas Resiliency Center is named after the Spanish word for butterflies. Butterflies have become powerful symbols for three young victims of the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting—6-year-old Stephen Romero, 13-year-old Keyla Salazar and 25-year-old Trevor Irby—and the community’s resilience in the wake of the 2019 mass shooting, said the DA’s office.
“Butterflies signify hope, and we want the Mariposas Resiliency Center to be a place of healing and new beginnings for those harmed by violence,” Rosen said. “It feels right that the halls of Mariposa will be decorated with the butterfly artwork of talented community youths.”
All Santa Clara County high school students are invited to submit their work by Sept. 29. Winners will be announced on Oct. 13.
The first-place winner’s work will be published on the DA’s website and other venues, says the press release. The second-place winner will receive $1,000, and the third-place winner will receive $500. The top three winners will be honored at an awards ceremony on Oct. 24, at the Mariposas Resiliency Center Grand Opening in Gilroy.
All entrants will be displayed at the center. All entrants who do not place will be mailed a Starbucks gift card.
