McAuley Art Students Take Home Top Awards For Creativity

CHICAGO, IL -- Six students from Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School top home top honors in the prestigious Scholastic Art, Midwest Regional Competition. Students Abby Graeber ’20 (Beverly), Rachel Kapusciarz ’18 (Garfield Ridge), Yessica Pineda ’18 (Veteran’s Park), Emily Tonkovich ’18 (Dyer, IN), Charlotte Wagner ’20 (Mount Greenwood) and Elizabeth Ward ’19 (Oak Lawn) won assorted awards for their creative works.

Presented by the nonprofit organization, the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the Scholastic Art And Writing Awards are the country’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative students in grades 7–12. This program year, more than 330,000 works of art and writing were submitted to 122 affiliate regions across the country. As one of the largest national affiliates, the Belin-Blank Center at the University of Iowa adjudicated over 7,000 pieces of art and writing from the Iowa and Midwest Regions. Creative teens from Iowa and the Midwest received regional honors, including Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions, and/or American Visions and Voices nominations.

“The Mother McAuley Visual Art and Technology Department faculty are elated to have our
student artwork recognized and honored, not only within the state of Illinois but within the
Midwest region,” said Kathy Gordon, chair of McAuley’s Visual Arts and Technology Department. “These artworks are the manifestation of our young women engaging their imagination, thinking outside the box, developing disciplined effort, building self-confidence and technical skills.”

Rachel Kapusciarz ’18 received a Gold Key for her drawing titled Safari, and a Silver Key for
her editorial cartoon sponsored by The Herb Block Foundation. Additionally, Rachel received
two Honorable Mentions for her artworks titled Xanadu and Interesting Closet Space.

Elizabeth Ward ‘19 received three Silver Key awards for her artworks titled Apis, Matilda and Matriarchs.

Abby Graeber ‘20 received a Silver Key for her artwork titled Fetch. Yessica Pineda ‘18
received an Honorable Mention for her work titled City Lights. Emily Tonkovich ’18 received an Honorable Mention for her work Rose Colored Glasses.

Charlotte Wagner ’20 received two Honorable Mentions, one for her digital illustration titled Beatitude and another for her digital Illustration titled Figments. All total, McAuley Art students received one Gold Key, Five Silver Keys and six Honorable Mention Awards.