March 3, 2019
Weidner School of Inquiry (WSOI) at Plymouth High School junior Grace Bougher won two Gold Key awards at the 2019 Scholastic Art Show. Bougher, she said this was her first time entering her artwork in the Scholastic Art Awards. “I’ve been entering the Tri Kappa Art show yearly. However, this is the first time I’ve entered an art show of this size.”
Her pieces were both entered in the 2019 Scholastic Art Show drawing and illustrations category and are titled, “Totem Pole” and “Warthog.”
“My Totem Pole piece was done during drawing class and at home. I would work on it during class, and then take it home and continue working on it. My Warthog illustration was more of a personal piece. It came to me pretty spontaneously while school was out, so I drew it while at home”. She said both pieces were finished in the spring and summer of 2018.
Totem Pole also won Best in Show at the Plymouth chapter of the Tri Kappa Art show held last May at Plymouth High School.
WSOI Art Teacher Haley Church said she and the staff at PHS are very excited for Bougher and her artwork to receive this distinction. “We have had other students enter their artwork in the 2019 Scholastic Art Show, but Grace is the first of my students to receive this distinction and earn a Gold Key.”
Bougher said she initially found out about the 2019 Scholastic Art Show from her father. “My dad was the one who told me about the contest. He won a Gold Key award himself his senior year in high school, and encouraged me to enter.”
The South Bend Museum of Art is the affiliate for the Scholastic Art Awards’ Northwest Indiana and Southwest Lower Michigan Region. Entries come in from Indiana in the following 15 counties; Benton, Cass, Elkhart, Fulton, Jasper, Kosciusko, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Newton, Porter, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Stark, White; and Michigan counties of Berrien, Cass, and St. Joseph.
Bougher’s art pieces are both currently on display at the South Bend Museum of Art along with other winning pieces until March 10.
According to the southbendart.org website, students in seventh through twelfth grade submit digital images of their work, which is juried by more than 50 jurors solicited from the local arts and education community. A process of “blind adjudication” is used, whereby judging is determined on a merit basis with only the art object under review, without any knowledge as to student identity (gender, race, background, etc.). Jurors are instructed to select artwork that excels in 1) Originality, 2) Technical Skill, and 3) Emergence of a personal vision or voice.
Regional awards are given in several categories each year at the Scholastic Art Awards. However, a Gold Key award is the highest level of achievement on the regional level. Approximately only 5 – 7% of all regional submissions are recognized with Gold Key Awards, and all are considered for national-level recognition.
Bougher said, “I plan on entering other art shows in the near future, and I definitely look forward to submitting artwork to the Scholastic Art Show again next year.”
She also suggests that other Michiana art students enter as well. “You can enter as many pieces as you like, and it is only $5 per entry,” said Bougher.