Baker University will be hosting its first High School Senior Art Show Friday in Holt-Russell Gallery.

Students from area high schools will have their artwork displayed and judged by faculty of the art department.

Students will come at 11 a.m. to have lunch, tour the campus and also attend an art history class.

The first-place prize winner will receive a $3,000 art scholarship and $100 in cash. Second place will receive a $2,000 art scholarship and a $50 cash prize. The person who wins third place will receive a $2,000 art scholarship and a $25 cash prize. To receive these scholarships the students must enroll at Baker.

“I absolutely think this can be a great recruiting tool for the university,” Professor of Art Inge Balch said. “That’s why I suggested it. We want to get more studio majors and there’s not really any other recruiting for the art department.”

Daniel McKinney, senior associate director for focused recruitment, also hopes the show will help bring students to the university. McKinney said even if these students don’t decide to attend Baker, if they have a good experience they will tell others who may consider attending.

“We only expected five or six students to be interested, so we limited it to 25, but we ended up with 30 students wanting to attend,” McKinney said.

McKinney praised the admissions department for playing a large part in the promotion of the event. Members of the department contacted area art teachers, who in turn encouraged their students to participate.

“Inge came in and told Kevin, ‘We need to do more to recruit’ and he suggested this,” McKinney said. “Everyone thought it was a great idea.”

Both Balch and McKinney said they are looking forward to meeting prospective students and viewing the artwork.

“It’s our first experience,” McKinney said. “Hopefully this can teach us how to make it more successful in the future.”