2016 Visual Arts Contest Winners

High School (A) Works on Paper

High School (B) Oil Paintings

Middle School

Lower School

Judges

Walt Kisner is faculty emeritus of St. John’s School, Houston, Texas. He is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Walt graduated from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Texas in Austin, and a Master of Arts degree from St. John’s College in Maryland. Walt has taught art and art history at St. John’s School and has served as the curriculum coordinator for Middle School Fine Arts. While a member of the Texas Art Education Association (TAEA) and the National Art Education Association he received training from TAEA to juror Visual Arts Scholastic Events (VASE). The main emphasis in his art is painting. Walt’s work will be featured at *de stijl Podium For Art in Austin in May.

*de stijl Podium For Art is the correct way this gallery spells their name with the small d in de stijl.

Lea Weingarten began the Weingarten Art Group in 2006, after more than fifteen years of working with both public and private art collections in achieving their collecting goals.

The Weingarten Art Group’s clients have included Fortune 10 corporations, national and international private collections, and commercial enterprises seeking artwork and/or artist collaborations. Ms. Weingarten is currently Project Manager for a multi-year contract with the City of Houston’s Hermann Park Conservancy to commission and install multiple monumental public art works throughout the Park to commemorate its Centennial Celebration in 2014.

Ms. Weingarten co-founded The Menil Collection’s popular Contemporaries collecting group at the personal request of Mme. Dominique de Menil, serves on the Discovery Green Houston Public Art Executive Committee, on the Glassell School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Core Committee, on the Menil Society Committee, on the Prints and Drawings Committee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on the Civic Arts Committee of Houston Arts Alliance and on the Discovery Green Public Art Committee. She is a founding board member of Holocaust Museum Houston and of its Art Circle, chairs the Jewish Community Center’s Visual Arts Committee and plays key leadership roles with Houston’s own Texas Contemporary Art Fair.

Ms. Weingarten has served as Guest Editor for PaperCity (print edition circulation of 160,000) covering international art fairs for the publication and has served several terms on the boards of the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, Holocaust Museum, Houston, and the Jewish Community Center. She travels extensively both nationally and internationally to art fairs, galleries and artist studios to meet the needs of her clients.

Lea holds a BA from Tufts University and an MBA from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

High School (A) Works on Paper

1^st Place — Lauren Yang, Dulles High School

Lauren’s colored pencil drawing demonstrates the power of boldness combined with refinement. Her fine draftsmanship reinforces the strength of this beautiful drawing. Excellent understanding of the use of black, white and grays contrasts with the psychological use of color.

2^nd Place — Camille King, Xavier Educational Academy

Originality and the artist’s willingness to experiment with media and technique make Camille’s artwork unique. Her great sense of composition pulls together the wide range of materials she used in her work. Listen, you can almost hear the voice of the image in the background.

3^rd Place — Arianna Lim, Dulles High School

Avianna’s colored pencil on paper employs one of the richest uses of this medium we’ve seen in a long time. She captured nicely the expression on the innocent looking puppy next to the ballet shoes. There is a nice combination of repetition and variation in color.

High School (B) Oil Paintings

1^st Place — Yangle Vina Xue, Duchesne Academy
Yangel’s outstanding painting connects really well with the theme of this exhibit, Art, and Music. The placement, gestures, and expressions of the central figure almost cause us to want to discern the melody she is playing. There is a wonderful sense of confidence in composition, color, and technique. The real secret o this painting is the way the artist captures our attention and holds it as we explore the entire work.

2^nd Place — Emily Yang, Cypress Ranch High School
The severe cropping of the figure and instrument combined with the juxtaposition of the rich warm colors in the figure and the cool background color make this work unusually successful. Often that combination does not work. Emily’s painting takes on a strong sense of abstraction. Simplifying the shape and quieting the strokes contributed to this sensation.

3^rd Place — Jiayuan Han, Lamar High School
Jaiyuan’s real subjects in this fine painting are the hands. The movement, spacing, and touch of the fingers on the instrument are thoughtfully captured. Hands can sometimes be difficult for artists to paint effectively. Attention to appropriate detail and the fluid painting technique establish the strength of this piece.

Honorable Mention — Gina Chee, Clements High School
The quiet intensity of Gina’s beautiful painting reflects the delicate quality of the instrument she is playing. The artist chose a somewhat cool color palette. Her understanding of how the reflection of light on the skin can at times make a face almost seem to glow. Gina’s fluid brushwork creates a pleasing and lasting impression.

Honorable Mention — Sabrina Hu, St. John's School
Sabrina’s ambitious and successful painting of this young pianist seems to tell us she is at her recital. The impact of where the figure is placed in the composition combined with the elegant way the artist has painted her dress, and the way the important diagonals of the composition lead to the figure support the ambience of a recital. The artist has captured well this refined atmosphere.

Middle School

1^st Place — Andrew Tong, Berry Miller Junior High
The broad landscape of Andrew’s painting is absolutely necessary to sustain the energy created by this gyrating guitarist. This artist set a very high level of difficulty in choosing to paint such a pose. He is to be commended for taking such a risk and doing the hard work to develop this inventive composition.

2^nd Place — Grace Chang, The Emery/Weiner School
This rhapsody in reds was developed very nicely. Grace’s decision to exaggerate in some portions of her composition and to simplify in others enriched her total impression of the work. It seems to have given her the freedom to mature the quality and richness of her chosen color. Deep, rich and warm is the feeling of this exceptional work.

3^rd Place — Selina Zhang, Fort Settlement Middle School
Salina is in very good company having included bundles of wheat in her composition. Among the artists are Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. The isolated figure brings a human element to this broad scene of nature. Because the figure has her back to us, the setting becomes as important as the sitter. Lively brush strokes and good color choices help pump the vitality of this painting.

Honorable Mention — Grace Zhang, Beckendorff Junior School
Sometimes it is questioned if glitter could ever be part of serious art. This fine work says a resounding yes! Although the figure and setting uses very familiar images, the artist has created a personal point of view in their unabashed attention to this musician. The combination of collage and skilled use of colored pencil worked really well.

Lower School

1^st Place — Kellis Zhao, Settlers Way Elementary
Words like ingenious, and clever come to mind as we view this painting by Kelis. Even the size of the work and the artist’s chosen color palette demonstrate this work’s distinction. The contrast of flat two-dimensional areas with the three-dimension treatment of the notes really grabs our attention.

2^nd Place — Christine Chen, Roberts Elementary
Christine has put her pianist in the spotlight of this fun-loving painting. In spite of its apparent carefree notion, the artwork shows she applied good principles of design and a strong awareness of filling the space effectively.