Feb. 27, 2013
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Three young artists will represent West Virginia in the 2013 Congressional Art Exhibit at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith of the Division of Culture and History presented first-place awards Tuesday to Kaleigh Tucker, a junior at Lincoln High School, Harrison County; Chloe Richardson, a freshman at Wahama High School, Mason County; and Cassidy Metzger, a junior at Spring Valley High School, Wayne County.
Runners-up are Ryan George, a senior at Spring Valley High School, Wayne County; Michelle Riffle, a junior at Ravenswood High School, Jackson County; and Cassidy Sullivan, a sophomore at Spring Valley High School, Wayne County.
Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Since the competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated. Students submitted entries to the West Virginia State Museum in Charleston and exhibition juror Staci Leech Cornell selected the winning entries. Winners were recognized at the Culture Center in Charleston on Tuesday and will be recognized at an annual awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The students’ work will be featured in a Culture Center exhibition that runs through March in honor of Youth Art Month and the district winners will be on display for one year at the U.S. Capitol.
New this year, Cornell conducted an artist workshop for students on Tuesday at the Culture Center. Cornell, who earned a master of fine arts degree from Marshall University in 2007, is a working artist who has shown extensively throughout West Virginia and Ohio. She works out of her studio at Still Maybe Studios, in Nitro, W.Va., and is employed by The Clay Center of Arts and Sciences in Charleston as the 21st century learning director.
For more information, contact Exhibits Coordinator Betty Gay at (304) 558-0220, ext. 128, or email her at Betty.G.Gay@wv.gov.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
2013 Congressional Art Competition Participants
FAYETTE COUNTY
VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
Holly Dunlap (Grade 11)
HARRISON COUNTY
LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL
Kaleigh Tucker (Grade 11)
JACKSON COUNTY
RAVENSWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
Cassey Anderson (Grade 10)
Kaylee Icenhower (Grade 11)
Michelle Riffle (Grade 11)
JEFFERSON COUNTY
WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
Reyna Abrew (Grade 10)
Skye Allen (Grade 10)
Cody Armel (Grade 11 )
Bryan Bayless (Grade 11)
Jennifer Bird (Grade 12)
Morgan Breeden (Grade 12)
Roan Dixon (Grade 11)
Tristan Geddy (Grade 11)
Tiffany Hartman (Grade 9)
Hailey Hawthorne (Grade 9)
Jonathan Hayden (Grade 11)
Jacqueline “Abby” Hunter (Grade 9)
Lindsey Masser (Grade 10)
Rachael Strycharske (Grade 10)
LOGAN COUNTY
LOGAN HIGH SCHOOL
Olivia Kitchen (Grade 12)
Stevie Miller (Grade 10)
MASON COUNTY
WAHAMA HIGH SCHOOL
Chloe Richardson (Grade 9)
MONROE COUNTY
JAMES MONROE HIGH SCHOOL
Emma Baker (Grade 11)
Hope Simmons (Grade 11)
TYLER COUNTY
TYLER CONSOLIDATED
Taylor Clem (Grade 12)
Richard Hooks (Grade 12)
Devinn Moore (Grade 11)
WAYNE COUNTY
SPRING VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
Kaitlin Nicole Blatt (Grade 12)
Brooke Burgess (Grade 12)
Katie Christian (Grade 10)
Megan Conley (Grade 12)
Victoria Deshazer (Grade 10)
Maddisen Ellison (Grade 11)
Lauren Fuller (Grade 12)
Ryan George (Grade 12)
Kylie Gilbert (Grade 11)
Shannon Marshall (Grade 11)
Cassidy Metzger (Grade 11)
Katie Oxley (Grade 12)
Adam Page (Grade 11)
Cassidy Sullivan (Grade 10)
Megan Williams (Grade 12)
Amber Rose Wood (Grade 11)
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