The Dr. Jerry Hiura Next Gen Visual Artist Award honors Dr. Jerry’s passions through a scholarship that celebrates young visionary artists and supports their artistic practice and goals as they pursue higher education.

2025 Application

The Dr. Jerry Hiura Next Gen Visual Artist Award is open to high school students in Santa Clara County.

Application Deadline: February 28,  2025
Winners Announced: May 15, 2025, 5:30–7:30pm
Award Amount: 1st prize: $3,000, 2nd / 3rd prizes: $1,000 each.

Scholarship Abstract

Theme: "Compassion in Action"
Prompt: Explore the theme of "Compassion in Action" through your art. Reflect on how caring for your community, friends, and yourself has positively influenced your life. Create visual art that highlights the power of empathy and kindness, and how these qualities drive you forward.

Criteria

• Open media, artwork, in response to the theme above
• Only one submission per student
• Students must be any high school aged student in Santa Clara County

Application Submission Requirements

Submit the requirements below through the application page. 

A completed submission form with:

• Your name 
• High school name
• Teacher Name
• Title of work
• Description of work submitted (medium, dimensions in inches)
• An artist’s statement: The statement should be 200 words or less, describing who you are, what you make, and why you make it. The statement is a stand-in for you, the artist, talking to someone about your work in a way that adds to their understanding and experience of viewing that work. Highlight how your work connects to the theme of "Compassion in Action."
• A high-quality image of your artwork in .jpg or .png format 
• 1200 x 1800 px, minimum size 
• Maximum of three views 

 2025 Application Now Closed

Jurors 

Dave Werner

Dave Werner is the Lead Designer for the Emmy award winning Character Animator team at Adobe in California. His past projects include the Okaydave website, indie video game Atmosphir, and Extraneous Lyrics video series. He posts regular cartoons, music videos, and tutorials to his Okay Samurai YouTube channel. Dave's work has been featured by Wired, The Verge, Entertainment Weekly, TechCrunch, Kotaku, College Humor, and Sesame Street. 

Dr. Smita Garg

Dr. Smita Garg is an artist, arts educator, and therapist. With a 7-year tenure as a San Jose Arts Commissioner, she continues to serve as a passionate advocate for the arts in her community. She is also the co-founder of CUHSDEF, an educational nonprofit organization that benefits over 8,000 high school students. Dr. Garg believes in the profound impact that the arts can have on personal growth and well-being. She views the arts as a powerful tool to cultivate compassion, mindfulness, and emotional resilience, and she is committed to helping individuals of all ages experience the healing potential of creative expression. 

Giada Conte

Giada Conte is an artist, visual storyteller, and creator of FLORA MAKES ME SMILE®—a whimsical, illustrated world centered around her cartoon character Flora, who makes it her mission to spread happiness, promote kindness, and encourage creativity.   

Combining hand-drawn illustrations with miniatures, Giada’s art playfully blurs the line between imagination and reality. Her drawings capture simple moments of everyday life, inviting everyone to celebrate the little things and discover the extraordinary in the ordinary. Flora’s colorful adventures also come to life through activity books, products, and art workshops designed to spark creativity, joy, and connection. 

About Dr. Jerry Hiura

The San José Museum of Art Dr. Jerry Hiura Next Gen Visual Artist Award was created in honor of former Trustee Dr. Jerry Hiura, known affectionately as “Dr. Jerry,” a gifted individual dedicated to service, community, and the arts. A passionate advocate for multi-cultural arts, he served as chair of San José's Arts Commission and as president of the Arts Council of Silicon Valley. Dr. Jerry’s commitment towards advancing the local arts community in San José also included co-founding the Contemporary Asian Theater Scene (CATS), the Japantown Community Congress of San José (JCCsj) and establishing the Three Japantown Landmarks Public Arts projects andIkoinoba, quiet resting places, throughout Japantown. As a board member for Chopsticks Alley Art, he furthered the creative dialogue between Japanese and Vietnamese American art and history. Dr. Jerry’s countless contributions were recognized Statewide when he was appointed in 2002 by Governor Gray Davis to the California State Arts Council, where he served as vice-chair.

Dr. Jerry and his wife, fellow Trustee Lucia Cha, joined the Board of Trustees of the San José Museum of Art (SJMA) in 2017. He served on the Executive Committee and was a key partner in SJMA’s engagement initiatives with San José’s Vietnamese community.

As a dedicated artist himself, Dr. Jerry explored his creative endeavors inexpressive forms. His paintings and drawings utilized a variety of media, including oils, watercolor, and acrylics – and ranged from whimsical topics to portraiture. As an author, poet, and editor, he published The Hawk's Well in 1986, a unique collection of Japanese American art and literature.

Enjoy These Submissions from the 2025 Application Period

Students in need of materials to enter the Dr. Jerry Hiura Next Gen Visual Artists Award are invited to contact us at education@sjmusart.org.