Jade Bassis, a junior at Calabasas High School, was named a finalist for the Community Excellence Awards & “Where the Mountains Meet the Sea” Art Show on January 22, and her piece will be displayed at the State Capitol building in Sacramento. This event celebrates creativity and community involvement, and the program honors students whose work strengthens and inspires the local community.
The event combined the Assembly District 42 Community Excellence Awards and the inaugural “Where the Mountains Meet the Sea” Student Art Show.
Throughout the evening, individuals and organizations were recognized for their contributions to society. The event also highlighted the imagination and awareness expressed by youth whose work in 2025 strengthened the community.
Jade credited her art teacher for pushing her to grow as an artist and try new techniques.
“My art teacher, Ms. Lynch, introduced me to charcoal and really encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone,” she said. “I wouldn’t have made this piece or experimented the way I did without her support.”
Isabella Lynch is the Fine Arts Teacher at Calabasas High School. Jade has been part of the program since freshman year and has grown as an artist.
“I first met Jade when she was a freshman in my art class. And she’s always been a bit of a perfectionist, which is a common thing with artists, especially young artists,” Lynch said. “It’s been really nice to see her kind of grow from that place where everything has to be perfect all the time to allowing and embracing her lines to come in different work and moments. And just to see her style grow too. I feel like when you’re a really young artist, sometimes it’s hard to find your voice. And it’s been amazing to see her voice come through in her life.”
Lynch also expressed Bassis’s work ethic and improvement throughout the years.
“Jade has been working hard for several years now, and it’s been really amazing to see her grow. And when I got the news that she won, I was just really excited because if anyone deserves it, it’s her,” Lynch said.
The art teacher expressed what stood out to her about Bassis’s artwork.
“Jade is very detail-oriented, and a lot of her work has a lot of fine line work, and this piece that she did for this competition was kind of the opposite of that,” Lynch said. “She used charcoal powder and a paintbrush to kind of paint a drawing. And the result was this beautiful, soft texture, which is really lovely.”
Jade’s artwork was selected as one of only five pieces chosen during the event. As part of this achievement, her work will be displayed in the California State Capitol building in Sacramento for the next year. Jade shared how she felt after learning her artwork was selected as a finalist and what message she wanted to communicate through her piece.
“I just wanted to show the impacts on California wildlife and how humans have affected it,” Bassis said. “The prompt was where the mountains meet the sea. I wanted to include both aquatic life and land mammals and show how human intervention changes those environments.”
Bassis also spoke about what the recognition means to her as a student artist.
“I was really happy when I found out my artwork was selected,” she said. “I submitted it very late, so I was just glad that I showed up and that they took it.”
The award reflects the importance of student creativity and its impact. Jade Bassis’s achievement stands as a proud moment for Calabasas High School and highlights the creativity of students.
