9th District's Congressional Art Competition Winners Announced

SKOKIE, IL — Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) announced Thursday the winners of this year's Congressional Art Competition from Illinois' 9th District.

Created in 1982, the showcase, "An Artistic Discovery", solicits entries from young artists across the country and their work in D.C. and in the offices of their representatives. 435 pieces of art, one for each member of the House, are chosen to hang in an underground tunnel between the Capitol and the Cannon House Office Building.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has imposed new rules to try to avoid a repeat of the handling of one of last year's winning pieces of student art, which was repeatedly removed by offended members of Congress. Schakowsky criticized the new rules and described the removal of the painting, entitled "Ferguson", as censorship.

Schakowsky's office said the exhibit reflects the vast potential and creative ability of young people. 38 students from 15 area high schools submitted artwork to the competition, including every special education high school in the district.

Here are this year's winners from the 9th Congressional District:

1st place: Sidney Faánunu, Niles North High School

• Artwork Title: “Ahhotep I”
• Medium: Acrylic Paint

2nd Place: Momoko Hasselbring, Evanston Township High School

• Artwork Title: “Octopus”
• Medium: Scratchboard

3rd Place: Jasmine David, Niles North High School

• Artwork Title: Dillono
• Medium: Mixed Media

After announcing the top three awards, Rep. Schakowsky released the following statement:

“Every year, I look forward to meeting the participants of my District’s Artistic Discovery competition and seeing the incredible artwork they have created,” said Rep. Schakowsky. “The competition for first place was extremely close, and I want to congratulate every single participant in this year’s event. The talent and creativity on display were awe-inspiring.”

“In particular, I’d like to extend my congratulations to our first place winner, Sidney Faánunu. Not only was her painting visually stunning, but the inspiration behind it was especially important to me. Sidney was tasked with painting a strong woman from history, and went back as far as the Ancient Egyptians to find a great example. Thank you for your hard work!”

“On a less inspiring note, this year House Speaker Paul Ryan has imposed a set of ‘suitability guidelines’ to the Art Competition to prevent controversy in the winning paintings. That is outrageous - it invites Members of Congress to become art censors, which I simply will not do. Speaker Ryan’s changes to the competition come as a response to the controversy surrounding one of last year’s winners – a painting titled “Ferguson,” which was removed from the halls of Congress on several occasions because certain Representatives found it offensive. I spoke out against their censorship on the House floor and maintain my opposition.”

Top photo | Rep. Schakowsky with first place winner Sidney Faánunu and her artwork | Courtesy Office of Rep. Schakowsky