ASHLEY O’CONNELL’S “THE FOX”
WAKEFIELD — Wakefield Memorial High School artists were awarded three Silver Keys and two Honorable Mentions in the Boston Globe Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Student artwork was judged against hundreds of talented students from all over the state.
Each year the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers partners with The Boston Globe to bring the competition to local communities. The Globe Art Exhibit is the longest running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in the U.S. A panel of professionals reviews each work of art using the following criteria: Originality, technical skill, and emergence of personal vision or voice.
The awards are an important opportunity for students to be recognized for their creative talents. This exciting competition is open to art students in grades seven through 12 in all public, private and parochial schools in Massachusetts. The Alliance has an impressive legacy dating back to 1923 and a noteworthy roster of past winners including Andy Warhol, Richard Avedon and Robert Redford.
By applying to 28 categories, each student has the opportunity to earn a scholarship and/or to have their works exhibited or published. The awards encourage young visual artists to be recognized in the following areas: Drawing, painting, sculpture, jewelry, ceramic, film making, photography, writing, poetry, digital art, digital media and other creative fields.
The Wakefield Memorial High School Visual Arts Department recently entered the 2015 Boston Globe Art Exhibit. Five students received three silver keys and two honorable mentions. Top awards go to three ceramics students Ashleigh Farrow, a silver key for her Cheeseburger, Ashley O’Connor, a silver key for her sculpture of a fox and Rachel Todisco, a silver key for her sculpture of a head.
Listed below are winners. The award winning artwork will be exhibited at Arts Night on April 14 from 6-8 o’clock at the Americal Civic Center.
SILVER KEYS
Ashleigh Farrow, Ceramics, “Cheeseburger”. Food is a great motivator even when eating isn’t the prime objective. The things we eat every day are loaded with visual excitement such as texture, form, line and color. A cheeseburger is full of opportunities for using compositional elements like balance, texture and variety.
Ashley O’Connell, Ceramics, “The Fox.” Ashley used ceramic techniques, design elements, as well as self-expression to create a sculpture of a fox. The sculpture was fired in the kiln to 1900° then glazed and fired again. The glaze is a glassy coating whose primary purpose is decoration and protection.
ASHLEIGH FARROW’S “CHEESEBURGER”
Rachel Todisco, Ceramics, “Medusa Head.” Rachel used clay to create a hand-built vessel joining the pieces together with slip. The dried clay is then fired, glazed and fired again, after firing the piece is considered to be pottery.
HONORABLE MENTION
Stephanie Lucas, Graphic Design, “Travel Poster.” Graphic Design students used iMacs with Photoshop to create travel posters. Stephanie worked within the guidelines of the assignment including the use of monochromatic colors to create foreground, middle ground and background and the use of silhouettes for the images represented.
Taylor Shannon, Advanced Drawing & Painting, “Observational Drawing.” Observational drawing has long been an important means for students to develop deeper consciousness and a new awareness. This white charcoal drawing of “Bucky the Skeleton” demonstrates how Taylor makes compositional choices and how accurately she can depict form, light and shadow. Bucky was purchased with money from a WEF Grant in 2014.
