Disclaimer: 42Fifty reporter Taylor Ana is part of the SPC Art competition, but did not take part in the writing or editing of this article.
On March 16, OH students earned first place in three categories at the Southwest Prairie Conference (SPC) Art competition at Joliet West High School
“The students did a nice job,” said OH Fine Arts Department Chair Michael Skura. “They rose to the occasion.”
The SPC Art competition includes many schools in the area in the visual art department. There are many separate categories for 14 in total that compete. Students submit 10 works within those categories before they go to Joliet West.
“I’m kind of glad that I got to be included in that before I graduated,” said OH senior Taylor Russell.
These categories include painting, drawing, sculpting, fiber arts, and many more. Each school puts limits, similar to swimming or track, before they submit their artworks.
The students also do workshops while their work is being displayed and judged by the guest judges, either from college or other art teachers from other high schools that are not part of the conference. After the workshops, the winners are announced in each category.
In general, these students have scored first place in the following categories: Animation, Mixed Media, and Computer art. Animation was won by Mathew Miller, Mixed Media was won by Taylor Ana, and Computer Art by Ava Desanto. Hard work and effort were put into all of the work that they submitted.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around how I even made it this far,” said OH junior Mathew Miller.
OH has gotten in the top three for the past few years, occasionally getting 4th place here and there. Despite this, OH is back at the top this year, in first place in many categories, getting 14 points in total. “This year, we’re back at the top, and we had first place,” said Skura.
The OH art department has grown since then, and it continues to grow each year, making OH’s chances grow to place higher in the SPC competition. “It’s definitely been such an amazing experience to watch the art program grow as I’ve gone through it.” said OH Senior, Ava Desanto.
Congratulations to all of the other students who also placed, this includes: Justin Holden in 2nd place for Digital Photography, Samantha Watson in 3rd place, Evelynn Longson in 3rd place for Hand Built Clay, and Kaitlin Russell in 3rd place for Jewelry. Also, Aidan Quach, Prisha Gupta, and Ruby Dailing for participating in the SPC competition.
“What is most important is the joy of making the art… it’s just a reward of the outward sign of your success and hard work,” said Skura.
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