Avon High School and Middle School Students Excel at The Scholastic Art Awards Program

The Lorain County Regional Scholastic Art Exhibition has been providing a program to recognize, exhibit and honor excellence in visual art from 7-12 grade students for over 50 years.

The Scholastic Art Awards program is the largest annual art competition in the country. Students in schools across the United States and Canada create the 150,000 entries each year. The Lorain County region includes public and private middle and high schools from Lorain, Erie and Huron counties. Over 1,700 works were entered from the three counties. Local art teachers entered a variety of two and three-dimensional works this year.

Work was juried by an esteemed panel of art and design professionals and professors from northeast Ohio. Work was judged by originality, technical skill and emergence of personal vision and voice. Grade 7-8 students compete in one division with all categories mixed. The high school students are competing together, grades 9-12, at the “varsity level” within various separate media categories. Students earn third place “Honorable Mention”, second place “Silver Key” and the first place of “Gold Key”. Placing among the 500 pieces in this show is like placing in “districts” in sports. Those works earning a regional “Gold Key” here advance directly to national jurying in New York City this spring.

The exhibit is hosted at the Stocker Center gallery on the campus of Lorain County Community College and funded by Nordson Corporation Foundation, C. Paul Stocker Arts Foundation and Lorain County Community College. The exhibit runs now through Feb. 22 and is open to the public. A Gold Key awards ceremony and reception will be held on Feb. 10 for the Gold Key winners. Beth K. Stocker Gallery hours are Mon. – Fri. 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with Tues., Wed., and Thurs. evenings 4 to 6:30 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.. The gallery is also open during Stocker Center Hoke Theater performances.

Avon High School list of winners (Of note, AHS senior (Sr) Leland Starwalt earned six Gold Keys, four Silver Keys and two Honorable Mentions, and also took home a top honor earning the American Vision Award.

(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Art Portfolio	Everyday Motion	Gold
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Art Portfolio	Curated Color	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Painting	Give or Greed	Gold – American Vision
(Sr ) Nicole	Gordish	Mixed Media	How do you see music?	Gold
(Sr) Hanna	Dilik	Painting	Silenced in blue	Gold
(Sr) Hanna	Dilik	Painting	Hands of Heart	Gold
(Sr) Sarah	Fisher	Painting	Cubed Self Portrait	Gold
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Painting	2001	Gold
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Painting	Happy Accident	Gold
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Painting	The Deep End	Gold
(Jr) Katie	LeHoty		Simon	Gold
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Painting	Contact	Gold
(Sr) Madison	McSweeney	Drawing and Illustration	Reminiscing Salvador	Silver
(Sr) Hanna	Dilik	Mixed Media	Avocado State of Mind	Silver
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Mixed Media	The Stretch	Silver
(Sr) Hanna	Dilik	Painting	crucible of cancer	Silver
(Sr) Nicole	Gordish	Painting	Elle	Silver
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Painting	Flying Overseas	Silver
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Photography	Exploring a bridge	Silver
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Photography	Newlyweds	Silver
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Digital Art	Doorbell	Silver
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Art Portfolio	Curated Color	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Sarah	Fisher	Drawing and Illustration	Homecoming 2016 Self Portrait	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Sarah	Fisher	Drawing and Illustration	Hibiscus	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Nicole	Gordish	Drawing and Illustration	Still Dead	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Julia	Morrison	Drawing and Illustration	Summer Morning	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Madison	McSweeney	Painting	Self Portrait	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Madison	McSweeney	Painting	I’m Sorry, Honey	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Leland	Starwalt	Painting	June	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Nicole	Gordish	Sculpture	My Italy	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Julia	Morrison		Dreamer	Honorable Mention
(Sr) Kaitlyn	Hunt	Drawing and Illustration	April	Honorable Mention

Avon High School art teachers Karen Busch and Maria Petrulis had student entries

The following are Avon Middle School award recipients:

Gold Key Winners: Olivia Eavenson (grade 8) and Clare O’Malley (grade 7)

Silver Key Winners: Nadia Benninghofen (grade 8), Olivia Bogna (grade 8), Amy Klimkowski (grade 8), Julia Laforet (grade 8), and Carl Wible (grade 8)

Honorable Mention: Adeline Dreger (grade 7), Isabella Keller (grade 7), Molly Rak (grade 7), Leah Raymond (grade 8), and Rayna Swope (grade 8)

Avon Middle School art teachers are Stacy Cislo and John Yagoda