MN Students Compete For Chance To Attend National Art Competition
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – You might know the names Andy Warhol, Truman Capote and Stephen King.
But you might not know that they're all recipients of the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
This month, some Minnesota high school students are competing for that recognition too.
Students from 66 schools across the state from as far away as Dilworth, outside of Fargo, to right here in the Twin Cities get to have their work on display at the University of Minnesota.
With 493 pieces in the exhibit, the audience gets a look into the teenage mindset, from a dress made out of newspaper to a 3D chess board to ceramic Uggs.
The works are all winners of the Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards.
Along with getting to display their work at the University of Minnesota, the students are eligible to go to New York for the national competition.
"To have it listed on your resume that you received a scholastic award is huge," Karen Seashore, an art teacher in Woodbury, said.
For many of these students, it's their first time having their work up for public interpretation, which can be nerve-racking.
"For an art student, and for an artist, to present your work in a gallery environment, it's an important part of the process of creating work," Howard Oransky, Director of the Katherine E. Nash Gallery, said. "You get to see how other people respond to it. That's an important feedback loop for an artist."
If art is something these students want to pursue as a profession, here and now is a good time to do it. The 2008 Legacy Amendment has catapulted Minnesota to the forefront of public funding for the arts.
"Minnesota now is number one state in the entire country for the level of public support for art," Oransky said. "These students who are coming up now are about to enter the profession, or continue their education, at a very good moment."
The days of the struggling artist may now be numbered and educators say as long as there are visual mediums artists will always be in demand.
"I grew up when TV was just the big thing and now Internet is for them," Seashore said. "Every kid is going to pick that computer and in just an instant they're going to have to make decisions on how to read those pictures visually. And so, in this generation there is going to be a lot of ways an art background will help these kids."
If you would like to attend the Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards all pieces are on display through Feb. 21 at the Regis Center for Art on the U of M campus.
It's free to the public and open Tuesdays through Saturdays.