Annandale Students Win Scholastic Art Competition Regional Awards

Over 400 middle and high school students from Fairfax County Public Schools students won regional awards in the 2011 Scholastic Art Awards competition. On Tuesday evening, Gold and Silver Key winners from , and Thomas Jefferson High School were recognized along with their peers at an awards ceremony at the Annandale campus of in the Ernst Community Cultural Center.

“What we’re here about tonight is not something that can be measured on a standardized test. It’s not something you can bubble in. It’s something that is our essence and the essence of our young people, something to celebrate with pride and joy because we know that this is something that our community values and we want to nurture it and continue to grow,” said Hunter Mill District school board member Stuart D. Gibson, one of the speakers for the night.

The competition is a national program that seeks to recognize the achievements of art students in grades 7th through 12th. The students’ teachers selected the submitted works last Fall and all were processed by the program from January through March before they were reviewed by a panel of judges composed of professional artists and art educators in the Washington, D.C. metro area such as photographers and illustrators, art gallery owners, artist and George Mason University School of Art professor of New Media Mark Cooley and more.

This year, judges viewed and scored selections based on photographs of the actual artwork rather than viewing it in person.

“[Judges] look for creativity, a unique vision for the student as well as a higher skill level than people would expect, so it’s a really interesting experience to see all that really great work come into one place and you get to look at it as an art teacher and see the signs of all these different schools,” said Aaron Stratten, Fine Arts Resource Teacher with FCPS.

The panel reviewed more than 165,000 works and 1,677 of those entries came from FCPS students. A total of 171 students won Gold Keys, 141 students won Silver Keys and 136 were awarded Certificates of Merit for their work in one or more of the following categories: drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, ceramics and glass pieces, sculptures, digital art, film and animation, architecture, fashion, jewelry, comic art, design, mixed media, and portfolios.

Some of the biggest prizes of the night went to the Gold Key Portfolio students who won scholarship awards from the Arts Council of Fairfax County, Council for the Arts of Herndon/SAIC Technology and the Arts Program, Fairfax Art League, Lorton Arts Foundation, Springfield Art Guild and Vienna Arts Society.

Annandale’s Kevin Muller had a big night, winning three gold keys, one silver key, the Cluster III Assistant Superintendent’s Award for his work, I Have Mental Ilnesses Just Like Everyone Else, American Vision Award for Best in Drawing, and a $1,000 Uphoff scholarship from the Arts Council of Fairfax County.

“I’m in Heaven right now,” said Gerardo Muller, Kevin’s father. “He has been working so hard, painting day and night. I haven’t seen him so dedicated to his work,” said Marilo Cisneros, Kevin’s mother. “In the summer vacations, he was only painting and painting because he wanted to be the best. He makes me so happy.”

“We’re all so happy,” said Rosalia Fajardo, communication liaison for AHS. “We’re so proud and excited, “ said AHS teacher Ann Harper.

Other AHS winners included:

• Tiffany Barber - Photography Untitled 1 (Gold Key)
• Emma Barker - Photo Portfolio Photo Portfolio (Silver Key)

Thomas Jefferson High School winners:

• Gloria Duan - Art Portfolio Art Portfolio Davis (Gold Key)
• Gloria Duan - Painting Cyclic Davis (Certificate of Merit)
• Melanie Kim - Painting Youth Fights Age Davis (Certificate of Merit)
• Young Ji Kim - Art Portfolio Art Portfolio Davis (Silver Key)
• Young Ji Kim - Drawing Burdened Davis (Silver Key)
• Lucia Liu - Painting Great Falls Spencer (Certificate of Merit)

Poe Middle School winners:

• Jane Carey - Printmaking Inner Strength (Gold Key)
• Dyonne Ebirim - Printmaking Serenity (Gold Key)
• Roxsana Flores - Printmaking Wish for Happiness (Certificate of Merit)
• Meliza Garcia  - Printmaking The Workroom (Silver Key)
• Jason King - Printmaking WORTH (Gold Key)
• Nebiyou Kitila - Printmaking Game Over (Gold Key)
• Amy Pham - Printmaking Hidden Treasures (Silver Key)
• Brenna Schields - Printmaking At The Tidal Basin (Certificate of Merit)

All Gold Key winners are entered into the national Scholastic Art Awards competition. Those winners are announced in April. A full list of regional winners, their schools, and titles of their work can be found here. The students’ work will be on display in the Ernst Community Cultural Center until Thursday, Feb. 24.

If your child won a Scholastic Art Award, nominate them to be our ! Just e-mail their picture to sherell@patch.com and we'll feature them on the site.