While Jessica's artwork will be given only a cursory glance by some, others will be intrigued enough to stop, consider and appreciate.

What they will be seeing is the Downtown Doors project.

Now in its third year, the project takes the original artwork of high school students and then digitizes, enlarges and transfers the art onto vinyl adhesive decals. The decals are then applied to 13 double- and triple-panel utility doors on The Fairmont Hotel, the Pavilion building and San Jose Repertory Theatre in downtown San Jose.

Eileen Zamora, an art instructor at Lincoln, has been involved in the project from its inception in 2003, when there were only four doors and each one was designed by one of her students.

In 2004, the number of doors expanded to nine and students from other high schools participated in the competition.

For 2005, more than 100 entries were submitted for the 13 doors, with seven of them designed by Lincoln students, including the one by the 17-year-old Blaine and two by Becky Roberts.

"The competition has become more fierce; our students really had to be on top of their game," Zamora says. "The Downtown Doors project is a terrific opportunity for our students to not only submit work to be juried professionally, but those artists who are selected have the wonderful opportunity to exhibit their work in such a unique way and at such a young age ... It lifts their sense of confidence in their abilities, it elevates their self-esteem and it gives them a new found sense of pride."

When Jessica got her first glimpse of her door she was both surprised and pleased.

"Wow, that's so cool. There it is, it's so big," Jessica said to her parents, Brad and Susan Blaine.

Her mother smiled and said, "Jessica has always been very talented in the visual arts. As a child she would draw a picture and ask us to write the story behind it across the front of it."

Downtown Doors is sponsored by the San Jose Downtown Foundation, a nonprofit volunteer group supported by the San Jose Downtown Association.

The $1,500 cost of each door is funded entirely by private contributions. Sponsors this year include Comerica; Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel, Inc.; Pacific Gas and Electric Company; San Jose North Rotary; San Jose Downtown Association; San Jose Downtown Foundation; the Sharks Foundation; and Willoughby, Stuart, Bening, Inc.

The doors are on The Fairmont Hotel, along S. First Street, Market Street and in the Plaza between the two streets; on the Pavilion on S. First and S. Second streets; and on the side of the San Jose Repertory Theatre facing S. Second Street.

The Fairmont is host to the most doors with nine of the 13, which pleases Lina Broydo, director of public relations for the hotel.

"It's really an enriching factor for people who live here or visit us. It's a wonderful addition to the city," Broydo says. "We're thrilled and honored to display the students' art on our doors. It shows our guests we support arts in San Jose and we're not only about chips and technology."

Jessica Blaine, a 17-year-old junior at Lincoln High School, says the city itself inspired her creation, San Jose Vibes.

"San Jose is a city of vibrant color, culture and music," Jessica says. "In my piece I pulled all three of these exciting aspects of our beautiful environment together to create a visual representation of those things that make San Jose so very unique."

The students were honored at a private reception in the lobby of 50 W. San Fernando St. on May 18, underwritten by Forest City Commercial Management.

At the reception, students were given stipends of $150, a year's membership in both the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles and San Jose Museum of Art, and gift certificates from Artist & Craftsman Supply and P.F. Chang's.

This year's artwork was chosen by Jane Pryzbysz, executive director of the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles; Ami Davis, education assistant at San Jose Museum of Art; Lucy Sargeant, art professor at San José State University; and SJSU art students Carole Gonsalves and Laura Snable.

The idea behind the project came from Judy Stabile, former San Jose city councilwoman and former deputy director of the Downtown Association.

Stabile recognized that the service and utility doors around downtown could double as canvases for art and further the Downtown Foundation's mission of promoting arts and culture.

Stabile researched possibilities and talked with Malcom Bordelon, executive vice president of business operations for the San Jose Sharks. He suggested using decals of the sort used on buses.

The process is such that the colors stay vibrant and true for the one-year period they are on display.

It's a mark of respect that in the first two years, only one door has had to be repaired because of graffiti.

"This program is a good opportunity for students to participate in the beautification of the city, to see how the system works and to improve their art portfolios," says Jackie Rose, chairwoman for the downtown foundation board. "The response has been very receptive for both the fact the art students are participating and the sponsors care enough to get involved and help young people with their art work. It's definitely well received."

The artwork will remain up for one year.