Congressman Sam Farr’s office has announced winners of this year’s Congressional Art Competition for his district, which includes San Benito County.
Farr announced that a student from Aptos High School was the winner, while a San Benito High School senior, Kayla Ramirez, took third place, according to an announcement.
According to the full announcement:
Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, announced that Josh Abgayani, a junior at Aptos High School, is the winner of the 2015 Congressional Art Competition: An Artistic Discovery. His winning piece, “Drowning in Beds Unmade”, will be displayed in the halls of the Capitol along with other students’ works from across the country.
“The energy and passion of these students can been seen in the works of art they create,” said Rep. Farr. “With so many talented young artists here on the Central Coast, it gets harder each year to select just one winner.”
Abgayani will travel to Washington, D.C., courtesy of Southwest Airlines, to be honored at a Congressional reception on June 24th. He also received a $3,000 renewable scholarship from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Leela Stevens, a senior at Aptos High School, was named the 2nd place winner with her piece “Red.” Her artwork will be prominently displayed in the congressman’s Washington office. San Benito High School senior Kayla Ramirez was named the third place winner, with “The Old Labor Worker”. Her piece will be displayed in the congressman’s Salinas office.
The Congressional Art Competition was open to all local high school students in the 20th congressional district. A total of 19 entries were submitted from 11 schools from the district. The entries were judged by Willow Aray, Executive Director of the Alisal Center for the Fine Arts.
The Artistic Discovery competition encourages and recognizes the rich artistic talents of young Americans. Students are allowed to submit various styles and types of art, ranging from paintings and drawings to photography and mixed media pieces. The winners are determined using criteria based on originality, skill of execution, excellence in use of materials and conceptual strength of the project.
The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982 to provide an opportunity for members of Congress to encourage and recognize the artistic talents of their young constituents. Since then, over 650,000 high school students have been involved with the nation-wide competition.
Last year, Robert Louis Stevenson sophomore Jung Hoon Ki, was awarded first place for his entry “Differing Perception of Covered Eyes.”
