Original art creations of two local elementary students, one from Rainsboro and one from Buckskin, will be touring the world after each of the girls’ pieces placed in the top ten in their age group in a national contest.
According to their art teacher, Jennifer Singleton, who teaches at both elementaries throughout the week, she got the students involved in a national Crayola art competition, called “Art Connects the World.”
Singleton told Greenfield Exempted Village Schools Board members at their Monday meeting that she was expecting a critique of the submitted artwork when the results came in. But what she and the students got was much more than that, she said. “To my surprise we ranked very well, but not just in the state, we ranked well nationally.”
The pieces will be included in the 2015-16 Crayola Art Exhibition where they will travel around the world for display at U.S. embassies.
The contest was for students in pre-K through grade 12. It was further broken down into grade categories: grades pre-K, 1; grades 2, 3, 4; grade 5 and 6; grades 7, 8, 9; and grades 10-12. Ten finalists were chosen per category with those 50 art pieces heading to various United States embassies around the world for exhibition before coming back to the U.S., where they will be part of a permanent collection of children’s artwork at the U.S. Department of Education.
Each participant was to draw inspiration from pieces in the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) collection, which was, along with Crayola, one of the sponsors of the competition. The competition was also sponsored by the National Art Education Association.
Emily Hester is president of the Rainsboro Art Club and created a piece called “Tropic Tuxedo.” The original art is florescent ink and black ink on paper. She said she had a poster of a penguin at home, that she loves warm weather and wanted to see how the two things came together.
Vivian Dennis is president of the Buckskin Art Club and created a piece that represented the “delicate and beautiful bond” of mother and daughter. Her piece is comprised of soft pastel, tempera paint, and ink.
Singleton said the students chose the themes of the artworks and titles, and were responsible for every element of their creation. Each student also had to submit an inspirational statement, which will be included in the display of the art.
The girls will each receive $100 worth of Crayola products. For submitting the entries Singleton will receive $200 in Crayola products that she said will be used for each of the art departments. Each finalist will also receive a plaque of their work that includes the students’ inspirational statement.
The girls’ art pieces and them being chosen from a pool of national participants is a “great accomplishment,” Singleton said. “They both did a tremendous job.”
In other art-related discussion, Singleton said there will be an exhibit of all students’ work from throughout the year in May. The exhibit will be at Rainsboro on Tuesday, May 3 from 4-6 p.m. and at Buckskin on Wednesday, May 4 from 4-6 p.m.
Those interested in viewing what the art students are up to can do so on the classes’ Facebook page, “The Buckboro.”
Reach Angela Shepherd at 937-393-3456, ext. 1681, or on Twitter @wordyshepherd.
