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Bay Village Schools Superintendent Scot Prebles has turned a corner of the Bay Village Board of Education office into an art gallery, featuring artwork chosen for the Superintendent’s Choice Art Awards.
Supt. Prebles initiated the Superintendent’s Choice Art Awards during his first year in the district, and continued the newer tradition again this year with the fourth annual Superintendent’s Choice Art Awards. The art was chosen from the recent Fall District Art Show. The artwork was revealed, and the students and their teachers were recognized during the December 15, 2025, Board of Education Meeting.
Supt. Prebles selects art from the district’s four K-12 buildings. The art is proudly displayed outside of his office for a period of one year. New pieces will again be selected in the fall of 2026.
“We have a tremendous amount of artistic talent in Bay Village Schools, and this is a wonderful way to showcase that creativity,” said Mr. Prebles. “Tradition is important, and I am delighted to honor our students and their pieces in the district’s Board of Education office. Plus, I get to look at beautiful artwork every time I enter my office.”
Bay High School Freshman Ada Kurinsky, whose ceramic vase was chosen from her eighth-grade artwork, was excited to learn her piece was one of five chosen for the Superintendent’s Choice Art Awards.
“I am so thankful and excited to have my work included among all the talented artists in this prestigious event,” said Ada. “I chose milky tones to echo the shapes and movement of real flowers, so that the decoration and the arrangement would visually connect. This was important to me because I wanted the vase to feel complete only when it was being used, emphasizing how design and function can work together. Creating these clay pieces last year was truly inspiring; it’s one of my favorite mediums to work with, and it allowed me to create something fun and special.”
Bay Middle School Art Teacher Wendy Fortunato knows how much work goes into the fall art show and into each student-produced piece. She said more than 400 impressive 2- and 3-dimensional art pieces were entered into this year’s show.
“As an art teacher at the middle school I find it so exciting to see our students honored for their artwork,” said Fortunato. “As art teachers, we know how much time, effort and creativity the students put into creating their art pieces, and it is wonderful to get to share their artistic accomplishments with others in our city.”
Congratulations to the following five students and their art teachers, who were recognized at the December 15, 2025, Board of Education meeting.
Artist: Veronica Hyland (current 6th grader at Bay Middle School)
Title: “Color Wonder World” • Medium: Glue Resist Chalk Pastel • Work Completed: During 5th Grade at Bay Middle School • Art Teacher: Wendy Fortunato
This art piece was created in fifth grade using an interesting combination of art materials, as well as a unique artist influence. The fifth-graders were introduced to the life and art of Mary Blair. Blair was an American artist, animator and designer who was also the first female animator for Walt Disney Studios in the 1940s. Blair is best known for being the designer of Disneyland’s It’s a Small World ride.
The students used Blair’s art from It’s a Small World to inspire creation of their own creative architectural cityscapes. For this composition, Veronica used water-based black markers and white glue to create the outlines of her unique city. After the glue dried, it created a dimensional outline and she was able to now add her color by using chalk pastel. The chalk pastel gave Veronica the ability to blend and mix colors, and to create tints and shades. Veronica used a variety of warm colors to illustrate the radiating sun, while cool blues and violets danced across her foreground. Veronica did a wonderful job combining the influences of Blair, along with her own creativity and craftsmanship to create a Color Wonder World.
Artist: Ada Kurinsky (current 9th grader at Bay High School)
Title: “Ceramic Vase” • Medium: Stoneware and high-fire glaze • Work Completed: during 8th Grade at Bay Middle School • Art Teacher: Greg Leininger
This piece was a combination of pinch pot and coil building. The student had to create the inverted and outward form by specific placement of the coils before welding and securing. With the coil placement, the vessel took on a beautiful organic form. The surface design includes a subtractive floral design that showcases the high-fire glaze’s nature of pulling apart at surface texture, enhancing the contrast of the stoneware clay and subtlety of the high-fire glazes effects.
Artist: Julia Sisto (Current 4th grader at Westerly Elementary School)
Title: “Dragon” • Medium: Pencil • Work Completed: 3rd Grade at Westerly Elementary School • Art Teacher: Debbie Sanson
During the 2024-25 school year, the art classes at Westerly Elementary School created artworks based on the theme entitled, “Every Picture Tells a Story.” With this as our theme, for each project, the students listened to a children’s storybook and examined the illustrations in the book. Discussions about the book included what students thought the moral of the story was and how students thought the illustrations helped tell the story.
One of the books read to the third-grade class was “Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton. “Puff the Magic Dragon” was originally a song written by the musical group Peter, Paul, and Mary. The song and the story tell of a little boy named Jackie Paper, and how he loved to play with his imaginary best friend Puff, who he imagined as a friendly dragon. Sadly, Jackie grows up and forgets about his childhood friend Puff. But don’t be sad, for at the end, Jackie comes back to visit his old friend, but this time, he brings his little girl to play with Puff. And so the story goes on. “Puff the Magic Dragon” celebrates the imagination and creativity of childhood.
With this story as our inspiration, students examined a variety of dragon images, then began sketching ideas for their very own special dragon friend. Emphasis was placed on good craftsmanship, composition and shading. Julia created a dragon with an interesting pattern for scales and soft shading for a 3D look. Her dragon looks like a very fine imaginary friend indeed! Well done, Julia.
Artist: Clifton Flood (Current 3rd grader at Westerly Elementary School)
Title: “Koala in a Tree” • Medium: Oil pastel and tempera • Work Completed: 2nd Grade at Normandy Elementary School • Art Teacher: Jama Jennings
Art students in second grade learned all about Australia’s wide range of land and sea animals. Students learned about Aboriginal dot paintings and symbols. Clifton created a realistic drawing of a koala bear with oil pastel. He filled in the background with a pattern of overlapping lines. Clifton added paint dots to recreate his own version of a dot painting.
Artist: Melia French (Current 12th grader at Bay High School)
Title: “Elk” • Medium: Charcoal on Paper • Work Completed: 12th grade at Bay High School • Art Teacher: Brittani Tkacz
This piece was created within a series of wildlife drawings and paintings, for a themed body of work that Melia is developing for their college art portfolio. Melia is very interested in analyzing various aspects of a myriad of animals, and creating artworks in the style of realism, to amplify the beauty of each animal. This elk was drawn with black and white charcoal on brown paper, paying special attention to the highlights, shadows and textures of the animal’s fur and antlers.
