Youth Art Show Award Recipients — 2009

Thanks to all the artists and volunteers who made our spring Youth Art Show a resounding success in 2009! The judges enjoyed seeing all the contributions and selected those listed below for special recognition.

At the Monroe Arts Alliance 2009 Youth Art Show reception and awards ceremony on March 1, 35 prizes and $360 in cash awards were announced. Eight brave young people weathered a winter storm to receive their awards and enjoy the congratulations of friends and families at the Monroe County Public Library, where all work was on display during March.

Arts Alliance Board member Judith Bair opened the program with thanks to Joan Menard and Holly Browne-Mester, co-coordinators, to the teachers at Peterstown, Mountain View and James Monroe High School who encouraged and assisted their students in entering their work, and to library staff for their assistance throughout. She acknowledged the judges who selected the winners: for visual arts, Marti Goode, Ba Rea and Ron Ripley, who viewed 112 entries in a variety of mediums ; for creative writing, Craig Mohler and Belinda Anderson, who read 11 entries with great care and diligence. A special thanks to Belinda Anderson for donating four autographed copies of her latest book, "The Bingo Cheaters," to the winners in the creative writing category.

The entries were divided into categories and grade levels and assigned point values of 1-10 by the judges. The highest combined scores in each category were first place winners, with cash awards of $25 for visual arts and $30 for creative writing. A Best of Show award of $50 went to the highest score in the visual arts category.

The winners are:

Creative Writing:

• Grade 10-12;
  • First Place: Taylor Ann Landrie of Alderson, age 17, homeschooled, for "Letter Expressing My Feelings Toward a Little Bird".
• Grades 4-6:
  • First Place, Peter Soukup, Gap Mills, age 11, homeschooled. For "The Battle of Mobile Bay as Seen by a Seaman Aboard the USS Hartford"
  • Second Place:, Seth Havens, Union, age 12, Mountain View, for "Monroe County EMS"
  • Third Place, Joseph Garcia, age 11, Mountain View, for "The Drummer Boy"
  • Honorable Mention, Robin Defibaugh, age 11, Mountain View, for ""The Lost World"

It is hoped that more entries in a wider age range will be received next year. Congratulations to everyone who entered, and keep writing.

Visual Arts

• Best of Show: Hayla Mann, Age 17, Union, JMHS, "Butterfly". This work also won the People's Choice award.
  Hayla's painting won a perfect score of 30 points from the judges, with comments like "harkens back to art's historical roots, good use of color and texture, multiple level of themes, unique". Hayla is an 11th grade honor student at James Monroe High School, and daughter of Elizabeth Mann of Union.
• Painting, K-3:
  • First Place, Angela Wauer, Age 6, Seneca Trail Christian Academy, for "Spring Flowers"
  • Second Place, Braeden Morris, Age 5, Homeschooled, for "Braeden Riding a Jetski"
  • HM: Sallie Anne Wittkamper, Age 7, Homeschooled, for "Rose"
• Sculpture: Grades 4-8:
  • First Place, Sofie Wyatt, age 11, Mountain View, for "Dancer". The judges were very impressed by this piece. It had the second highest point score among all entries.
  • Honorable Mention, Joseph Remley, age 11, Mountain View, for "Bloody Mess"
• Collage: Grades 4-8:
  • First Place, Allison Vandegrift, age 9, Mountain View, for "Sport Things"
  • Second Place: Brittany Dunbar, age 10, Mountain View, for "The Football Team"
  • Third Place: Joseph Hazelwood, age 9, Mountain View, for "West Virginia Fans"
• Colored Pencil/Marker, Grades 4-8:
  • First Place: Margaret Laine Shiflet, Age 11, Mountain View, "The Might(y) Muskie"
  • Second Place: Sarah Grace McMahan, Age 11, Mountain View, "Pitcher and Fruit"
  • Third Place: Sofie Wyatt, Age 11, Mountain View, "Jack Rabbit"
• Graphic Design: Grades 4-8:
  • First Place: Matthew Cosgio, Age 13, Mountain View, "Civil War"
  • Second Place: Elle Serreno, Age 12, Mountain View, "Twilight"
  • Honorable Mention: Courtney Meadows, Age 12, Mountain View, "Love"
  • Honorable Mention: Eric Justice. Age 11, Mountain View, "RX-7"
• Drawing, Grade 4-8:
  • First Place, Justin Harvey, Age 11, Peterstown Elementary, "Flower"
  • Second Place: Kelcey O'Neill, Age 12, Mountain View, "A Siberian Husky Puppy"
  • Third Place: Andrew Bland, Age 13, Mountain View, "White Tail Deer"
  • Honorable Mention: Jon Badley, Age 13, Mountain View, "Blah"
• Painting, Grades 4-8:
  • First Place: Connor Boothe, Age 11, Peterstown Middle School, "Man's Best Friend"
  • Honorable Mention: Kelsey Guy, Age 12, Peterstown Middle School, "A Forest of Fall"
• Drawing: Grades 9-12:
  • First Place: Chris Hicks, Age 15, Peterstown, JMHS, "Wildlife Guardian"
  • Second Place: Jade McDaniel, Age 15, Union, JMHS, "Elephants"
  • Third Place: Kelsey Dixon, Age 16, Ballard, JMHS, "Relaxing Dog"
  • Honorable Mention: Christina Amos, Age 16, Peterstown, JMHS, "3-D Forms"
• Marker/Watercolor, Grades 9-12:
  • First Place: Gage Cray, Age 17, Ballard, JMHS, "Smoking Skeleton"
  • Second: Shane Gibson, Age 16, Greenville, JMHS, "Red Apples"
  • Third: Lily Holz, Age 17, Greenville, JMHS, "Van Gogh's 'The Chair'"
  • Honorable Mention: Christina Amos, Age 16, Peterstown, JMHS, "Fall Cityscape"
• Painting, Grades 9-12:
  • First Place: Allyson Eppling, Age 15, Waiteville, JMHS, for "Off to See the Wizard"
  • Second Place: Kylie Ford, Age 17, Union, "Untitled"

Thanks go to Tandy Stone, Joan Menard, Holly Browne-Mester, Lucy Taylor and Sharon Pitzer for their assistance in making this event a success.

More than 120 Monroe County students participated this year. The Arts Alliance encourages all young people in grades K-12 to begin thinking about next year's competition. Independent work as well as classroom projects will be welcome. Please contact Judith Bair at 304-772-4568 for more information.

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