2019 High School Area Show and Congressional Art Competition

Scholarship Winners Announced

Now in its 37th year, the High School Area Show opened Thursday, April 25, at the reception and awards ceremony. Seven college and university programs, and the KIA’s Kirk Newman Art School, offered more than $750,000 in scholarships and awards to selected students based on their work.

The KIA again partnered with the 6th Congressional District Congressional Art Competition to select a representative whose work will hang in the U.S. Capitol for a year. Makala Carr of Centreville High School won for her drawing Opinion Orange (shown below). Her teacher is Ashley Rolfe. Ms. Carr will receive a trip to Washington, DC, for an opening reception.

Eight college and university programs, and the Kirk Newman Art School at the KIA, offered nearly $1,000,000 in scholarships and awards to selected students based on their work. Juror for the show was artist Jill Waskowsky, who retired as an art teacher from Portage Central High School in 2014.

“I used the same criteria in jurying these works of art as I did in my classroom: sincerity, creativity, and the mastery of the structure of art making,” she says. “While some works excelled in all my criteria, I also chose works where creativity or sincerity or skill overcame other limitations. I congratulate all who were accepted into this show.”

Curating the show was Kim Long, Assistant Curator for Adult Programs, who notes the importance of the high school educators who nurture these young artists.

“This exhibition would not be a success without the commitment of the art and design teachers in the area, whose important programs teach the skills and dedication needed to study and practice making art.”