Lake Denoon Middle School Student Wins Art Contest

Seventh-grader Jessica Kastello of Muskego likes her artwork to have a life of its own. Her creativity recently garnered her recognition by the Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest, for which Jessica drew her vision of peace, with colored pencils.

“The peace poster I drew was a school project, and the idea of it came from my other artwork,” she said. “I usually never let my artwork stay dead. I usually incorporate it into something else.”

Her inspiration for the dove she drew on her peace poster was actually another drawing she completed as school.

“I drew a flying cat with wings. I incorporated the wing section into another design when I heard about the peace project because I thought wings would be perfect,” Jessica said. “The first thing that comes to mind is a dove when I think of peace.”

For an international element, she added flags as the border.

Annually, Lions clubs around the world sponsor the Lions International Peace Poster Contest in local schools and youth groups. The idea is to encourage young people to express their visions of peace. The competition was open to students ages 11 through 13 years of age, and media including charcoal, crayon, pencil and paint were options.

Jessica said when her poster won her school’s competition, she was surprised.

“I did some research on all the details of the wings of a bird, and the flags from all over the world… I was proud of my work,” she said. “After I won the school competition, it went to the district competition. Then it went against the 6 counties in our area. There was first and second place for each school. Then all of those went to the judges of the Lions Club, and they judged the first place levels for the district.”

Her poster went to the state competition along with 10 others.

She said she didn’t place first but celebrates her success because her art is her passion.

“My mom (Alice) had a great art teacher in high school, and my sister (Maria, a freshman at Muskego High School) and I both inherited the trait of loving art,” she said. “I love coloring and drawing and making different designs. I love the idea of creating whatever you want.”