San Benito High School senior Kayla Ramirez's artwork, titled, "The Old Labor Worker," will be displayed in Congressman Sam Farr's office after it earned third place in the 2015 Congressional Art Competition: An Artistic Discovery.
A junior from Aptos High School won the competition and a senior from Aptos took second
“The energy and passion of these students can been seen in the works of art they create,” Farr said in a press release. “With so many talented young artists here on the Central Coast, it gets harder each year to select just one winner.”
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, more than 650,000 high school students have been involved with the nation-wide competition.