Students Honored in Vermont Scholastic Art Awards
St. Johnsbury Academy Fine Arts students won a total of 50 regional art awards in this year’s 2019 Scholastic Art Awards. A total of 21 students won awards for their work in Digital Art, Painting, Photography, Film and Animation, Comic Art, Drawing and Illustration, Design, Printmaking, Ceramics and Glass, Editorial Cartoon, or for their Art Portfolio. They received 14 Gold Keys, 16 Silver Keys, and 20 Honorable Mentions. In addition, four were nominated for American Visions awards. The work winning regional Gold Keys will be judged at the national level of the competition in the coming weeks.
Gold Keys were awarded to freshman Anneke Beth in Digital Art for Nine and Purity, senior Madeline Byford in Photography for Heaven Bound, senior Mimi Duong in Film and Animation for Memories of You (American Visions Nominee), senior Sarah Fickes in Comic Art for Water, senior Joonhyung Han in Painting for Alley of an Old Town, senior Ainsley Larsen in Photography for Trapped, senior Mary Moreno in Ceramics and Glass for Masks, senior Katelynn Mosholder in Photography for Grief (American Visions Nominee) and Broken, senior Anzhelika Nastashchuk in photography for The Culture (American Visions Nominee) junior Isabella Mertens in Photography for The Chair, junior Yifeng Pan in Painting for Dream of a Deer (American Visions Nominee) and in Printmaking for Dance of Skeleton.
Silver Keys were awarded to junior Hannah Dirlam in Photography for Contrails, senior Sarah Fickes in Drawing and Illustration for The Hat Stealer, senior
Joonhyung Han in Painting for Happy Man, in Digital Art for A.I. (Artificial Intelligence), in Drawing and Illustration for Toy Cars and in Painting for Light through a Harsh Day, junior Sean Jang in Photography for Self-Limitations, junior Yinan Lin in Printmaking for Untitled and The Mirror, senior Mary Moreno in Photography for Wild and Sequestered and Ford and for her Art Portfolio entitled Abandoned Places, senior
Katelynn Mosholder in Photography for A Rainy Day, junior Olivia Robinson in Photography for Split Personality, junior Fernanda Vega in Film and Animation for The New Drug, and senior Shulan Wang in Drawing and Illustration for Pick Up.
Honorable Mentions were awarded to freshman Anneke Beth in painting for Tiger, senior Madeline Byford in Photography for The Mill, senior Zachary Fucci in Digital Art for SJA Athletics Poster and in Design for Fashion Design Poster, senior Joonhyung Han in Editorial Cartoon for Forcing Hand from the Monitor, in Design for TEAR, Apart, in Drawing and Illustration for Tubes on Stage, and in Film and Animation for Zip Up, junior Hannah Dirlam in Photography for Tethered, junior Maxwell Jones in Photography for Balloons, senior Yinan Lin in Digital Art for I Miss You, senior Katelynn Mosholder in Photography for Tricycle, and junior Yifeng Pan in Painting for Portrait, Outside the Window, Buddha, and Drop into the Desert, junior Olivia Robinson in Photography for The Porch, senior Liam Tobin in Film and Animation for Ichorous, and, finally, junior James Wood in Photography for The Ride and Happy Place.
Head of the Fine Arts department Rosie Prevost said, “Making art, as with any pursuit of excellence, takes time and dedication. Behind that finished piece of art there is a process of practice, trial and error, revisions and reshoots, successes and failures. Congratulations to our students for doing the hard work that is involved in that process of creativity.”
Headmaster Tom Lovett said, “To have 21 students honored in a state competition of any kind is a tremendous achievement, and to have so many honors in a creative competition is even more impressive. Our arts faculty can inspire such excellence because they themselves are professional artists. They understand the creative process, hard work, and revision that go into creating great works of art. So, while we are extremely proud of the accomplishments of these students, we are equally proud of the excellence of our faculty.”
Students’ award-winning work is on exhibit at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center from February 17 through March 10, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. An awards ceremony honoring the artists will take place on Saturday, March 2 at 12:00 p.m. featuring keynote speaker Hilary Price. The ceremony is free and open to the public.