April 14, 2021 at 12:35 p.m.
Applauding aspiring artists
Winners of the 25th annual Helen Mears Student Art Competition announced
Applauding aspiring artists
By Stephanie Kuski-
Cindy Goll, president of the GFWC Rhinelander Women's Club, noted that the state level Helen Mears Student Art Competition was originally established in 1927. The annual juried art contest was created to honor the life and achievements of Helen Fansworth Mears, a self-taught Wisconsin-born sculptor who was commissioned by the State of Wisconsin in 1893 at the age of 21 to create "Genius of Wisconsin," a nine-foot marble sculpture that is now housed at the Wisconsin State Capitol.
"During her lifetime, she didn't have a lot of recognition, so the Women's Club wanted to honor her memory by sponsoring this contest," Goll explained. "The Club wants to support and encourage the artistic talents of Rhinelander's youth."
Thirty-four entries from 29 area students were displayed at ArtStart in late March alongside two professional artists featured in ArtStart's spring exhibition. Seventh- and eighth-grade students from James Williams Middle School (JWMS) and Nativity of Our Lord Catholic School (NCS) as well as independent artists and homeschooled students were represented in the juried art contest.
Students submitted a wide variety of artwork, including 2D watercolor, acrylic and pencil drawings as well as 3D sculptures and ceramic art. Digital art was a new category for this year's contest, however no digital art submissions were entered.
Participating students submitted their work in one of two classes: Class A students created their pieces with formal instruction from an art teacher, while Class B students - such as homeschooled students and independent artists - did not have an art teacher present to aid them in creating their submitted work.
At the local level, students submit artwork while a panel of judges award first, second and third place prizes as well as honorable mentions for each class and category. The first, second and third place winners at the local level will advance to the district level for judging. Winners at the district level will then go on to the state competition to be judged during the GFWC Wisconsin Convention in Rothschild this May. The first- and second-place winners from the state contest will have their artwork displayed at the Oshkosh Public Museum during their summer exhibit.
On April 6, the GFWC Rhinelander Women's Club hosted a virtual artist reception via Zoom announcing winners of the art contest. Students, teachers and parents as well as representatives from the GFWC Rhinelander Women's Club and ArtStart were present to congratulate the artists on their achievements.
Heather Sturtevant, a GFWC Rhinelander Women's Club member and chairperson for the art contest, hosted the virtual artist reception. This was her first year chairing the event, which she said she was initially introduced to as a parent when her daughter, Raven, submitted a handcrafted mask to the contest years ago that made it all the way to the state competition. Sturtevant said she was glad to see so many submissions this year, especially considering the art contest was cancelled in 2020 due to the effects of COVID-19.
"We have a lot of varied talent but a lot of talented youth in our community," Sturtevant said. "I love the variety of the art pieces."
At the local level, only two Class B contestants submitted work in the category of 2D art. Maria Satterburg, a homeschooled student from St. Germain, received the first place prize for her pencil portrait of a horse titled "Storm." Luke Smith, a student at Three Lakes Middle School, was awarded second place for his pencil composition titled "Portrait."
Several Class A students from JWMS and NCS also submitted a wide variety of both 2D and 3D artwork.
In the 2D, Class A category, JWMS eighth-grade student Jamie Marshall took home the first place prize for her portrait titled "Your 'Flaws' Are Golden." Her black-and-white ink on watercolor paper portrays gold freckles on the face of a beautiful woman, which Marshall said was her way of showing just how unique one's "flaws" can be.
"My inspiration was that lots of people view freckles as sort've a bad thing, but I always thought they were super pretty. So I wanted to do a painting that highlighted them and show that even though you may think something is bad, some people might think it's good," Marshall explained. "I was starting to think, well what if some of my perceived flaws that I think are bad are something other people think are beautiful? So I wanted to show that discovery in my art, because that's one of my biggest self-expressions is my art."
"Jamie works all the time outside of class as well as inside of class," said Diana Budde, JWMS art teacher. "Inside of class, she does remarkable work and on her own, all the time. So I would like to give her all the credit for the piece that she made with the freckles, because that really was an independent project."
Second place in the 2D, Class A category went to Brynn Teter, an eighth-grade NCS student who created a black-and-white composition with marker titled "Illusion." JWMS seventh-grade student Cerenity Mikkelson took home third place for her pencil portrait "Boot" while Willow Prien, an eighth-grade student at JWMS, received honorable mention for her charcoal "Still Life" portrait.
In the 3D, Class A category, JWMS eighth-grade student Wendy Fronk received the first place prize for her textured "Slab Box" made from clay. Fronk said the ocean was her inspiration for the piece, as she emulated seaweed and other underwater structures using beautiful aquamarine colors and textured patterns.
"I've always enjoyed sculpting with clay," Fronk said at the artist reception."With this piece, there's indents and pieces carved out, dots poking out. So it's really fun to run your hand across it and feel the texture."
"Wendy, she's so creative," Budde, Fronk's art teacher, commented. "She went to town on the box, she knew exactly what she wanted. She's very determined and she does a great job."
The second place prize in the 3D, Class A category was awarded to Saphira Lewis, an eighth-grade JWMS student, for her "Slytherin Coil Pot." NCS eighth-grade student Lynnea Kivi took home the third place prize for her incredibly small ceramic pie cleverly titled "π." Laura Fenzl, Kivi's art teacher at NCS, said her ceramic pie was "meticulously perfect" since "she glazed the cherries underneath the crust with a tiny brush."
Honorable mentions in the 3D, Class A category were awarded to Nathan Cordy, an eighth-grade JWMS student, for his "Coil Pot" and NCS seventh-grade student Oceana Patulski for her clay "Dragonfly."
"Oceana had three tries sculpting that dragonfly," commented Fenzl, Patulski's art teacher. "She started over every single time until she finally got it into the kiln."
Participation certificates were awarded to all students who submitted artwork, even if they did not receive a prize in any given category. Those students include: NCS seventh-grade students Libbey Buchmann, Maddie Legney and Willow Mutter; JWMS seventh-grade students Dominic Cooper and Callie Kress; NCS eighth-grade students Lila Gross, Brody Kowieski, Kate Ripple, Summer Schroeder and Elysse Younker; and JWMS eighth-grade students Emalee Detienne, Johanna Dellenbach, Jake Lammert, Emma Mankus, Alaina Meyers, Makenna Sternitzky, Helena Wisner and Brooklyn Zivko.
Because students who received first, second or third place awards will have their artwork submitted to the next level of judging, their work is no longer available to view in the galleries. However, the student's submissions were also captured in a 360-degree virtual tour of the exhibits that is still available for virtual gallery goers to enjoy long into the future. Those interested can visit https://
artstartrhinelander.org to view the virtual tour showcasing the student artwork.
Stephanie Kuski may be reached at stephanie@rivernews online.com.
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