Jenny Levine
Arts, Entertainment, and Technology Editor
@JALevineCourant
This time of year might be Hollywood’s award season frenzy; but for NCHS art students, the CT Art Scholastics Show is their time to garner attention from their field. Although pieces from around the state are sent to Hartford; only a handful are accepted where they’ll be in contention for an award.
The process of sending in artwork was up to the art teachers; out of all their students they sent in four that they thought were the strongest. “After they picked the pieces, the teachers sent them in electronically,” junior Elly Hersam said. “The scholastic judges picked out of all the submissions which they liked and awarded gold, silver or an honorable mention.” Elly picked up an honorable mention for her photograph entitled, “Read My Mind.”
Not everyone got their results back; junior Meredith Luchs only knows that her sculpture was accepted into the show; but either way she’s pleased to just paint. “The way I view art is not as something that I do to get through to others, but more as a self indulgent hobby,” she said.
photo contributed by Beth Hersam
Other artists enjoy the feedback on their work and see this award as more of a nod of their hard work. “I love being creative and trying to pull off an idea that I create in my head; this has definitely encouraged me to continue making art and think outside the box,” junior Elly Hersam said.
Thinking outside the box is a popular concept when it comes to participating in a creative venture; but, artists find that what drives their creativity materializes in different forms. “My piece is what I fondly refer to as “birdie”; he’s a little wooden bird and every feather is a popsicle stick shard,” Meredith said. “He was inspired by a poem called “Hematite Lake” by James Galvin; I had this strange feeling that he had existed before I crafted him, just like in the poem.”
Senior Zach Seger won the prestigious Hartford Art Scholarship for his work pictured below. Overall the students and teachers were immensely satisfied in their recognition by their state and look forward to future involvement for next year’s talent.
