Two Students Winners in 2012 Young Artists Competition

By Matthew Bullard

By Vignesh Gopalan

Two students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools have been named winners in the sixth-annual Young Artists Competition sponsored by Professional Educators of North Carolina (PENC).

Both Matthew Bullard and Vignesh Gopalan were eighth-graders in Heather Miles Dutton’s advanced-art class at Meadowlark Middle School last year when they created the art that won the Middle School division. They were the only two middle school winners in the state. Two winners were also chosen in the Elementary and High School divisions.

Dutton had this to say about Vignesh's work: "Vignesh took this idea and ran with it. ‘Show me the meaning of ART. What it means to you.’ Vignesh's work in art is always meaningful, eye-catching and beyond his years. It meant a lot, as his art teacher, to see that he thought of ART in a powerful way...including his own face in the message!"

Dutton had this to say about Matthew’s owl: “Each student got to pick a species of an ‘Owl.’ They gridded their owl's photo and drew it in a huge poster form. Then they used pencil technique to capture the realistic features of their owl. Matthew's Owl was what we talked about in class as being very regal and mysterious. Matthew's skill is a combination of sheer talent, an artistic eye, and a true grasp of creating mood and feeling into artwork."

Dutton said that the work of these two students is an example of the value of being able to take art every year in middle school.

“My hopes are that they will be majoring in art one day!” Dutton said.

The winners’ artwork will be displayed at the PENC office in Raleigh and will appear in future PENC publications. Each piece of art was submitted on behalf of a student by a North Carolina art teacher

PENC received submissions from students from throughout of the state. The six winning artists received a monetary award and a certificate of achievement from PENC. Additionally, each winner and their art teacher were recognized at the PENC Executive Board meeting in September. The were also recognized at the Oct. 9 meeting of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education. PENC is committed to recognizing the hard work and dedication of North Carolina’s visual art educators and students.