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Student Artists Win Scholastic Awards

Student Artists Win Scholastic Awards

Nine NMH students have been recognized for their artwork in the 2023 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a national contest that celebrates students for exceptional artistic and literary talent.

Students walked away with an impressive 36 awards in total, including a National Gold Medal, six Gold Key Awards, 14 Silver Key awards, and 15 honorable mentions for their sculptures, paintings, drawings, digital art, photography, mixed media work, printmaking, architectural design, and more.

Ethan Lin ’23 earned the National Gold Medal for “Protective Restriction,” a large sculpture of black and colorful fabric and epoxy resin that appears to be suspended in mid-air, attached by transparent wire between two stands. Lin himself becomes part of the sculpture — dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, he stands in the piece’s negative space.

Lin explained his concept for the piece and his inspiration to create it. “Since early in my life, my parents, understandably, have worked hard to protect me,” he said in his artist statement. “But consequently, the restricted space I inhabited prevented me from authentically exploring the creative paths I sensed I needed to take. 

“The deflating bubbles and popped by rays of light suggest I have broken through the darkness of restriction, ​​represented by my clothing and aviator sunglasses,” he said in his artist statement. “The rays of color suggest the force of my multidimensional personality breaking through.”

Mona Seno, chair of the visual arts department, presented a slideshow of the winning artwork at a recent all-school meeting in Memorial Chapel. “I love showing our students’ impressive artwork to the whole community,” she said. “The pieces reflect a lot of work, growth, and talent, and the students deserve the recognition.”

Most of the students won multiple awards. Several of the winning pieces are on display at the annual Student Art Show in The Gallery at the Rhodes Arts Center — a tiny house sculpture by Lulu Calame ’23, a drawing by Alex Tse ’24, and digital art pieces by Annabelle Zhang ’23 and Jessi Shin ’24 — and a winning sculpture by Bailey Koo ’23 was displayed in the Gilder Center during the fall semester. The other award-winning student artists are Everett Liu ’24, Anissa Yu ’24, Annabelle Zhang ’23, and Claude Zhang ’24. See photos of their art.

The annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards are presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to identify students with exceptional artistic and literary talent and present their remarkable work to the world. 

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