Paintings selected for art contest

Students+show+off+their+pieces+that+were+selected+for+the+Houston+Livestock+Show+and+Rodeo+contest.+

Betsy Kaufman

Students show off their pieces that were selected for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo contest.

Students in the advanced Art 3 and Art 4 classes recently painted pieces to be entered into the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo contest. Before the pieces can be taken to Houston, an outside judge had to narrow them down and select the top ten.

The ten students that were picked have advanced to the next round of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo district judging, which will be held on Jan. 7. Students who were selected are: Ashley Knight, Julia Iles, Gracie Simmons, Daisy Sutton, Darian Simmons, Danielle Paul, Olivia Keltz, Michelle Olson, Kara Olson, and Jordan Switzer.

For the contest, students had to follow certain criteria. All subject matter entered had to be of a Western theme and students had to paint from at least one photograph or they could create an artistic composition from multiple photographs.

“The reference photos have to be sited and also have to be included along with the contest pieces for the judges to be able to see,” art teacher Betsy Kaufman said. “There are strict guidelines on not photographing or reproducing copyrighted material. There are size restrictions, paperwork, and deadlines. If any of the many guidelines and rules are broken, then a piece of artwork may be disqualified by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo judges.”

According to Kaufman, the students worked on their pieces since school started in September. Many of them even came to school early to work on them or stayed after school.

Jennifer Restauri Dickenson, the Curator of Art from the Stark Museum of Art, served as the preliminary judge on Dec. 14 and chose the ten pieces to advance to Houston.

“For more than ten years, the art teachers get all the qualifying pieces together and then they are taken to Houston for the district judging,” Kaufman said. “This year, we had to have a preliminary judging, with an outside judge that narrowed down the pieces that will go to the district show.”

Once the pieces reach the district level, ribbons will be awarded for several different categories: Best of Show, Gold Medal, Special Merit, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

“The students that have participated this year have really done an amazing job,” Kaufman said. “Their pieces are beautiful and they not only have amazing talent, but they have worked hard and I am very proud of them.”