* NCHS Student Wins Congressional Art Contest :
Marcus Briggs’ Image On Exhibit In US Capitol
* Five Student-Artists at Lynchburg Univ Exhibit
* Natalie Rivera’s Drawing Goes to National Show
* Nelson exPRESSion Now Archived at Library of Congress
In a “first” for the school division, a Nelson County High School (NCHS) student won first place in the celebrated Congressional Art Contest (for the 5th District). Student Marcus Briggs’ photo-image titled Friends at School beat around 50 competing images.
Several news outlets including the Augusta Free Press explained it well; one can read more from Augusta Free’Press’ perspective is online here: tinyURL.com/NCHSwinsUSC24
Here's a detailed story from Foothills Art Review:
tinyURL.com/FAR2024art
Briggs’ image, made during an NCHS photography class, will be on exhibit in the US Capitol complex until mid-June. Also, in 2024, the selective HS Invitational Art Exhibit at the University of Lynchburg accepted artworks made by five NCHS students either during art classes or at home and sent to the show by the art teacher. The exhibit is also a competition, and winner/s will be announced on the show's last day, Thursday, November 14th during a closing event from 6 p.m. to 7. The show is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tues.-Sat. in the Dillard Fine Art Bldg's gallery on the lower level, under (and reachable from) the Daura Museum of Art at UL.
The gallery is closed Sundays and Mondays. It's around 45 minutes from NCHS. Here's the simplest route:
tinyurl.com/mapNCHStoUL
The selective invitational art exhibit is a competition with a top prize of some $100s worth of art supplies. Again, we'll hear about winners on Nov. 14.
Congrats to all NCHS student-artists with pieces in the show: Audrey Watts, Lailee Pollard, Natalie Rivera, Emily Johnson, and Mary Jo Allen (note: our editors have surnames starting with letters near the end of the alphabet and we therefore favor ->reverse<- alphabetical order). Congrats also to "alternates" Meadow Moran and Adriana Merlini.
Natalie Rivera's realistic-but-symbolic self-portrait (titled Flowering Wounds) is especially strong. "I've been teaching art for many years," said NCHS art instructor Terry Ward, "and this is THE BEST student artwork I've yet seen." Ward said: "Rivera already has a reputation as a good artist and has made a lot of impressive drawings, but this one is a quantum leap."
In art and photo classes, Ward has been emphasizing making images with "active 'negative space'," which, (in image-making) means not-having a tiny subject pictured on a vast rectangular background (the "dot in a square" design); subconsciously, the eye finds such pictures boring. (In art, "negative space" is your background; "positive space" is your subject matter.) If your subject matter is shown closer-up and if some parts (arms, top of head, etc.) run off of the edges of the rectangle, then the image is said to have "active" negative space and the eye finds it a lot more interesting. This image does have "active negative space," which makes it more interesting and professional-looking. Subconsciously, the eye also "likes" repetition (of shape, of color, of anything); and Rivera's picture has some dominant dark tones which appear elsewhere in the picture. Also, bright lighter tones repeat in the image (the big flower, the sweater, etc.). Also, the "technical" aspects of rendering an eye, a finger, a pearl of a necklace, or whatever --are faultlessly put down on paper here. Ward said: "There's a lot of art-jargon I could go into to bolster the quality of Rivera's drawing, or you could just trust me: this is among the top student-artist pictures you'll ever see."
Ward was impressed enough to enter the image in the legendary "Gold Key" art contest: a 100-year-old national competition where winners are selected in an exclusive exhibit in New York City. Govs, wish Rivera luck.
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One other art-related “champions” item: in a major and perhaps-inexplicable honor, the US Library of Congress has decided to collect and archive our humble Nelson Expression. Who knows? In a century, some scholar might have a smile at reading about NCHS’ young creatives.
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^ Natalie Rivera’s graphite-on-paper drawing called Flowering Wounds is on exhibit at the UL invitational and also is an entry in the national Gold Key art competition. But why the band-aid? About the image, Rivera said: The overall meaning of the artwork is to be able to endure, overcome, and heal from difficult experiences, while starting over and hoping for a brighter future. White carnations symbolize a new start, or good luck wishes. Baby's breath flowers also symbolize good fortune and prosperity. The band aid represents the need for represents the need for self-care, while the flowers symbolize growth and beauty. Both things put together symbolize the ability to heal from past challenges.
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^ UL show “alternate” image by Meadow Moran –an Art 2 "free-draw" project
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^ Mary Jo Allen’s ink-on-paper UL contest image
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Disapprovingly, My Cousin Inhales Sharply (graphite on paper) is Lailee Pollard’s image at the University of Lynchburg invitational art show
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Detail view of Emily Johnson’s tribute to The Beatles which went to the UL contest
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Audrey Watts’s UL contest image, Wavelength, has color-pencil on paper on pigmented text pages disbound from a book --on canvas
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UL show “alternate” image by Adriana Merlini –an Art 2 free-draw projects
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Scenes from the Congressional Art Competition reception for 5th District student-artists at LaHaye Event Space at Liberty University in Lynchburg
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Marcus Briggs’ prize-winning photo won 1st place in the Congressional Art Competition
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Scenes from the Congressional Art Competition reception for 5th District student-artists at LaHaye Event Space at Liberty University in Lynchburg
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Marcus Briggs with sister in DC at the Capitol for the art exhibit’s opening event
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