Barton Hosts The Scholastic Art Awards For Eastern/Central N.C. Region for the 36th Year

 

WILSON, N.C. — Barton College will welcome students from across the state to celebrate their creativity at the annual Scholastic Art Awards ceremony scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 2. This marks the 36th year that Barton College has served as host and regional sponsor for the National Scholastic Art Awards for the Eastern/Central North Carolina Region. The featured speaker for the awards ceremony is Dr. Gary Daynes, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Barton College.

Following a reception for Gold Key awardees and their families in Wilson Gymnasium on the Barton campus at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, there will be an awards presentation for the award recipients beginning at 2 p.m. The ceremony is open to student Gold Key Award recipients, their families, and North Carolina arts teachers and principals. The Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition will be available for public viewing in the Barton Art Galleries beginning Feb. 3.

Entries from all 50 states are submitted for competition in the nationally renowned Scholastic Art Awards program. The program, created for middle and high school students, is designed to encourage student achievement, to recognize and applaud our fine art teachers and to emphasize the importance of the visual arts in the school curriculum. Barton College is proud to host the Eastern/Central Regional District in North Carolina, representing 62 counties from the piedmont to the coast.

Contributors to the program include the Wilson Chamber of Commerce, Stan Corbett of Corbett Reproductions, Framer’s Alley of Elm City, Blick Art Materials, Jerry’s Artarama, and the Barton College Friends of Visual Arts.

Dr. Norval C. Kneten, president of Barton College, and Mark F. Gordon, director of The Eastern/Central North Carolina Region of The Scholastic Art Awards Program, will bring brief remarks during the program. Jeannette Stevenson of the Scholastic Art Awards Regional Teacher Advisory Committee will present special awards to student recipients.

The Scholastic Art Awards entries for the Eastern/Central North Carolina Region are received at Barton College during the first week of January. This year, there were 2,935 artwork entries from 169 schools presented for judging. Students, through their teachers, submitted artwork in a variety of categories, including: architecture, comic art, ceramics & glass, digital art, product design, drawing, fashion, film & animation, jewelry, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, video games, and art portfolio. Jurors are charged to select entries that they consider especially worthy of recognition.

The Eastern/Central North Carolina Region has an advisory committee composed of 10 art teachers. This year, the exhibition selection jury was composed of college professors, museum educators, and professional artists.

Two hundred and ninety-nine artworks were selected as Gold Key awards for the exhibition as well as nine Gold Key portfolios. Digital images of these finalist art works will be sent to New York City for judging against other regional winners for the national exhibition held in June at the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C. Also sent to New York will be the works of five American Vision Award (Best of Show) nominees, including: Eric Johnson, Cleveland High School; Hannah Wiser, Eastern Wayne High School; Alice Wang, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics; Clay Yarborough, Western Alamance High School.

There also were 262 Silver Key Awards, five Silver Key portfolios, and 437 Honorable Mention Awards chosen from the individual entries submitted. A list of all award recipients and images of their artwork is available on the Barton Art Galleries’ web site at http://www.barton.edu/galleries/scholastic-art-awards.

From the Gold Key artworks, the jury also selected works for additional regional awards to be presented at the ceremony including the Barton College Award to: Kayley Weston, William G. Enloe High School; “The Wilson Times” Award to Christine Perry, Southern Alamance High School; the North Carolina Art Education Association Award to Anne Spong, Mendenhall Middle School; the North Carolina Student Excellence Award to Hazel Ng, Green Hope High School; the Emerging Vision Award to Lydia Wu, Meadowlark Middle School; Jurors’ Choice Portfolio to Alice Wang, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics; the Edward C. Brown Award, which honors the long-time director of the Barton Scholastics Program, to Madelaye Proctor, South Stokes High School, and the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Recycled Materials Award, a new award this year, to Olivia Dunning, Western Alamance High School.

Jerry’s Artarama in Raleigh donated a $200 gift certificate awarded to Alice Wang, a student at The North Carolina School of Science and Math, recipient of the Jurors’ Choice Portfolio Award. Blick Art Materials donated a $200 merchandise voucher for classroom materials to Heather Miles Dutton of Meadowlark Middle School, teacher of the Emerging Vision Award recipient.

The exhibition will run from Feb. 2 – Feb. 21 in the Barton Art Galleries located in Case Art Building. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and by special appointment. For additional information, please contact Mark Gordon, at 252-399-6474 or the Barton Art Galleries at 252-399-6477.

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