NHS Senior Included In Gold Medalists—

Scholastic Art Awards

Honor Student Talent

WEST HARTFORD — In what has been called an “Artistic Olympics,” outstanding middle and high school artists are being honored in the 15th Annual Connecticut Scholastic Art Awards competition and exhibition at Hartford Art School at University of Hartford.

The exhibition will be on view until February 6 in Silpe Gallery at Hartford Art School.

An awards ceremony on January 25 included the presentation of a Gold Medal Award to David Kugielsky, a senior at Newtown High School for his sculpture “Myself and I.”

Mr Kugielsky’s work, in the Sculpture division,needed to be a “non-functional object modeled, carved, cast, constructed or assembled of any material (including clay, glass, acrylic, wood, or metal).

The diversity of expression and sophisticated artistic skills of Connecticut students are evident in the impressive exhibition of all media – paintings, drawing, graphic arts, photography, film and animation, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry and crafts.

When accepting work, judges stress originality. Computer reproductins are not accepted, nor are works that delineate from previous ly published pieces.

Scholastics 2004 features 497 works selected by a professional panel from 1,700 entries. One hundred fifty schools across the state participated this year, a record number according to Chip Zellner, Scholastics chairman and a former Wilton High School faculty member.

Awards included 140 gold medals, 161 silver, 196 honorable mentions, 22 art portfolio, and 13 photography portfolio awards. Cash awards and college scholarships totaled $275,000.

Connecticut Regional Scholastics is part of the National Scholastic Art Awards program that was created in New York in 1927 to honor the creative excellence in the visual arts by junior and high school students. It is now the largest and oldest competition of its kind in the country.

Top state award winners and gold key recipients’ work is also entered in the national competition with a National Awards Ceremony to be held on June 10 at Carnegie Hall, N.Y.

The National Awards Exhibition will be presented at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. from June 18 through August 2.

The scholastics program is sponsored by the Connecticut Art Education Association that is responsible for organizing the event, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the Hartford Art School, donor of four major four-year renewable scholarships as well as host of the event. The organizers emphasize that its purpose is not merely a competition but a “recognition and encouragement of talent” and open to all students across the state.

Silpe Gallery is on the campus of Hartford Art School of the University of Hartford, Bloomfield Avenue. Gallery hours are 9 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday, and noon to 5 pm on weekends. For more information call 860-768-4827.

Recently renovated, Silpe Gallery is located in Taub Hall, the main facility of the Hartford Art School. The primary mission of the gallery is to provide a showcase for student work and provide students with the experience of preparing and installing an exhibition.

In addition to hosting student exhibitions throughout the academic year and being home to special events and visiting artist lectures during the year, Silpe Gallery is also available to other organizations and individuals on a selective basis – such as Scholastic Art Awards – for purposes that are compatible with or enhance the mission of Hartford Art School.