Idyllwild local and Idyllwild Arts Academy senior Ben Cruz was one of eight visual artists nationally to be awarded the highest honor by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers — the Gold Medal Portfolio for his work in painting. Now in its 94th year, the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards is the longest-running and…

Rick Rickman, author, documentarian and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, will judge the upcoming Art Alliance of Idyllwild Eye of the Artist art show and fundraising auction on Saturday, March 7. Rickman won the Pulitzer for team coverage of the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles. Working for the Orange County Register, Rickman shared the award with…

With a short window to prepare as a new board, the Art Alliance of Idyllwild staged a successful public art celebration that combined two events that had previously been held separately — a plein air painting competition, with Idyllwild Arts Academy longtime visual arts faculty member David Reid-Marr as judge, and a gallery tour of…