Simsbury High Super Soph's Photograph Garners Prestigious Award

Simsbury High School

SIMSBURY, CT— A young Simsbury High School photographer has won a major art competition for a photograph he took and his work will soon hang in the U.S. Capitol.

SHS sophomore Nana-Poku Boakye's photograph, “Silenced,” was selected as the first-place winner of the 2023 Connecticut’s 5th District Congressional Art Competition.

The competition resulted in 197 entries, from 163 participating artists, in grades nine through 12 in 23 schools within the district.

U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, said she was "very impressed" with his photo and will meet with Boakye at a reception on May 30 at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury.

As the winner of the competition, Boakye will be invited to the Congressional Art Institute for a national reception at the Capitol in Washington D.C. on June 20, along with other winners from throughout the U.S.

His piece will be hung in the Cannon Tunnel on the campus of the Capitol.

It will hang there for one year beginning this month.