April 14, 2017 at 4:20 p.m.
Helen Mears Art Contest inspires young artists
Helen Mears Art Contest inspires young artists
By Kayla Thomason-
The contest is open to area seventh- and eighth-grade students. This year, 39 young artists submitted a total of 42 pieces in categories such as drawing, painting, 3D sculpture, ceramics carving or metalwork. Last year, 28 students entered the contest.
The winners will go on to district and state competition.
The layout for the awards ceremony, held Tuesday afternoon at ArtStart, was a bit different this year, with the awards presented from the stage.
Class A first-place winners are Grace Ratty of Nativity of Our Lord for her drawing/painting; and Sophia Cook of James Williams Middle School for her sculpture. Cook also received Best of Show.
Class A second-place winners are Joey Sturzl of Nativity of Our Lord for his drawing/painting, and Raquel Siewert of JWMS for her sculpture.
Class A third-place winners are Sarah Squires of JWMS for her drawing/painting, and Kylee Younker of Nativity of Our Lord for her sculpture.
Class A Honorable Mentions went to Kyle Morien of JWMS for his drawing/painting, and Maria Heck of Nativity of Our Lord for her sculpture.
Class B first-place winners are Leah Runge, home-schooled, for drawing/painting; and Hannah Rumney of NCSS for her sculpture.
Class B second-place winners are Tazia Oxendine of NCSS for her drawing/painting, and Skylar Peitsch of NCSS for her sculpture.
Class B third-place winners are Lena Symonds, home- schooled, for drawing/painting; and Lily Sneller of NCSS for her sculpture.
Class B Honorable Mention went to Karissa Thurn of NCSS for her sculpture.
Cindy Goll, chairperson of the event and second vice president of the Rhinelander Woman's Club, was very impressed with the pieces submitted this year.
"I thought that they were very interesting, good quality work," she said.
Someone in the crowd purchased seventh-grade Nativity student Kylee Younker's "Strawberry Ripples," an ink block in shades of blue.
Goll thought it was exciting that a student's work was purchased.
She also liked seeing some new styles that the students, such as the ink block, and thought it was nice that they are trying something new in class.
"I think it's really important that the students see the community supporting them and that their parents love them and are willing to come here," she added. "It's a very positive experience for the students."
She noted a lot of the students had to come out of their comfort zones to participate in the event.
Maria Heck, a first-time participant, submitted "The Mystery" and "The Shades of Mystery," the former of which took honorable mention.
"I just kind of had a picture in my head and put together a few paper things and I had my piece," she said.
Heck said she enjoyed the competition and plans to enter again next year.
"I like it because it gets us to express our art outside to the public," she said.
Tazia Oxendine, a seventh-grader, took second place with her piece entitled "I Want to Believe," which included an alien.
"I just had this spurt of energy inside of me that told me I should do an alien so I did," she said.
She also plans to enter next year.
"I think that it's a very good thing that the students are open to the opportunity and that they can really express themselves to the art," Oxendine said.
Leah Runge took first place with her piece titled "Fjord in the Fields."
"I was just looking on Pinterest and stuff like that, looking at horses with colored pencil and colored paper that I really liked and I didn't want to copy somebody else's' artwork so I just tried to find a certain horse that I thought would blend in with the piece of colored paper that we had so I just chose that," she said.
She said it felt good to receive an award. This is her second time participating in the competition and she took an honorable mention last year.
Runge thought the contest was fun and it's nice opportunity for students to show the public what they have been working on.
"I think it's nice because then they have a chance to show people what they can do," she said.
Goll is thankful for everyone's participation and support of the competition.
"The Woman's Club is very thankful to have such a nice showing of a crowd today, that so many parents and friends came today," she said.
The Helen Mears Art Contest has been sponsored by the GFWC-WI since 1927. The contest honors Oshkosh native sculptor Helen Farnsworth Mears.
Students' artwork will be on display April 13-15, 20 and 21.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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