Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 3-29-19

Local
Brooks DeBartolo Senior Wins Rep. Castor’s Congressional Art Competition
Valerie Roberts, a senior from Brooks DeBartolo Colle- giate High School, was awarded the top prize at U. S. Rep. Kathy Castor’s 2019 Congres- sional Art Competition with her interpretive portrait drawing ti- tled, “Gloss.” She is the first stu- dent from Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School to win the Congressional Award in U. S. Rep. Castor’s annual art com- petition.
Valerie previously com- peted in U. S. Rep. Castor’s 2018 Congressional Art Compe- tition and was awarded 1st place in the Water Media portion of the competition for her piece ti- tled, “Woman From Hawaii.” An awards ceremony for the annual competition took place Sunday, March 24th, at the Tampa Museum of Art.
“The talented students across the Tampa Bay area in- spire me, especially those who express themselves through art,” U. S. Rep. Castor said follow- ing her 2019 Congressional Art Competition. “Arts are thriving
Winning Art
“Woman From Hawaii”
cil and gel pen.
“I saw it and I loved the way
the gloss captured the dimen- sions of her face, the skin looked so smooth. I felt it would be a cool challenge to try and recreate that using a pencil medium,” she said.
Valerie’s artistic journey began while she was in middle school. She points to negative feedback she once received on her artwork and the positive re- inforcement from her art teacher
MADEILYNANN ‘COOKIE’ MITCHELL ...Award Recipient at Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School and Valerie Roberts’ Art Teacher.
as inspiration for her hard work to master her craft.
Although she does not plan to pursue art professionally, Va- lerie hopes to join her passion for art with environmental biol- ogy to convey messages regard- ing environmental justice.
“I took Advanced Placement art classes in high school along with some traditional ones, but my teacher has done so much to push me to put my work out into the world. She has always been very patient with me and al- lowed me to explore different styles of art and she gave me guidance throughout all of it,” Valerie continued.
U. S. Rep. Castor’s annual Congressional Art Competition gives Hillsborough County pub- lic and private high school stu- dents the opportunity to feature works of fine arts including drawings, paintings, photo- graphs or sculptures. This year’s competition had work submitted from 77 students from more than a dozen high schools throughout Hillsborough County.
The panel of judges is made up of local artists and experts from the Tampa Museum of Art, the Arts Council of Hillsborough County and more. The Tampa
Museum of Art will graciously
display the student artwork through March 31.
Valerie received a scholar- ship and a trip to Washington, D. C., in June for a national art competition reception. Her art- work will then be featured for one year in the U. S. Capitol alongside other winners for con- gressional art competitions from throughout the country.
Winners and their instruc- tors of the other categories listed below received cash prizes.
Award Winners
• Congressional Award – Va- lerie Roberts, Brooks DeBar- tolo Collegiate High School
• Museum Choice Award – Genesis Morlabaez, East Bay High School
• 1st Place Overall – Miriam Janes, Bloomingdale High School
• 2nd Place Overall – Chloe McLeod, Berkeley Preparatory School
• 3rd Place Overall – Dakota Olson, Howard W. Blake High School
• Photography Award – Hope Ubanovsky, Berkeley Prepara- tory School
• Sculpture Award – Spencer Meyer, Howard W. Blake High School
• Pam Heilig Art Teacher Award – Madeilynann Mitchell, Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School
• Water Media Art Teacher Award – Jackie Lucas, A. P. Leto High School
• Water Media 1st Place – Anya Maes, A. P. Leto High School
• Water Media 2nd Place – Glo- ria Spearson, Howard W. Blake High School
• Water Media 3rd Place – Makayla Luckey, Strawberry Crest High School
Rep. Castor with the Congressional Award honoree, Valerie Roberts and the
winning art Hawaii.”
piece,
“Woman
From
in our community. In Hillsbor- ough County alone, arts and cul- ture generates $433.2 million in economic activity and nearly 15,000 jobs are tied to the in- dustry, according to report is- sued last year by Americans for the Arts,” U. S. Rep. Castor said.
Valerie found inspiration for her winning piece while scrolling through a magazine, stumbling onto a picture and en- visioning it drawn out with pen-
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