The Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards celebrate the development of a personal voice and technical skill through art or literature, according to the the contest website, artsandwriting.org. Participants whose work best embodies these characteristics are awarded several distinctions within each category in their region, with the highest being the Gold Key.
This past week, several students were awarded the Gold Key award in the Massachusetts Arts Region.
KATHERINE DUAN ’20
“PRIMORDIAL VASE”
I submitted an extrusion piece that I made in [my] Clay and the Ancestral Pot class. I didn’t begin the piece with a clear idea of the end product—I knew I wanted to create a piece with contrast, and I sort of went with the flow while I kept that idea in mind. I shaped the clay in ways that I thought looked natural and felt comfortable in my hands.
SOPHIE HUANG ’20
“MONDAY MORNING”
[This film] was a literature adaptation of William Carlos William’s poem called “This Is Just To Say.” It’s famous for being really short – I think it’s less than ten lines. I read the poem in English class and I really liked it…. [My piece is] called Monday Morning because the idea is that people who love each other don’t have to express it in extravagant ways. It can be very simple, just like a poem of someone buying plums for breakfast and then someone else eating them.
OLIVIA YANG ’22
“ELANOR”
I was trying to convey a sense of “togetherness” and beauty. Elanor is my roommate and she’s honestly just such an incredible person that I was trying to express some of her “color” and beauty. My medium (colored pencil) is really easy to work with, so it’s really flexible yet expressive. I feel like that might affect the way you interpret the piece, and [perhaps] gives you a more complete understanding of the subject!
RORY HALTMAIER ’20
“A TAXONOMY OF CREATURES: CURIOSITY OF THE MIND”
One of [my winning pieces] was a book that I made. It was all about the creatures that I have drawn since I was a little kid. So I updated them in my style today, hand-bound the entire book, and put it all together. I was trying to convey that we all have these little worlds in our heads. I thought watercolor would be a good way to keep it still colorful and vibrant, which is what I saw in my brain as a kid, but still fluid and more realistic.
EMILY HUANG ’21
“VESTIGES”
[My piece is] a watercolor painting of this place in China called Jiangnan. I named [it] Vestiges because after finishing the painting, I realized the way I interpreted the scene [gave it] a sort of faded [look]. It’s a really old village, so it’s almost like it’s fading from everyone’s memories. I tried to capture the old ancient feeling of the place and at the same time, have it serve as a reminder that there is something valuable preserved in that village.
Editor’s Note: Rory Haltmaier is an Illustration Editor for The Phillipian. Sophie Huang is a Video Editor for The Phillipian.
