Throughout the 2010-2011 school year, high school students in art classrooms across Wayne County produced incredible works of art, but only the top 290 made it to one of the most prestigious art exhibits in Wayne County - the Tri-County Educational Service Center’s annual Wayne County High School Art Exhibit at the Wayne Center for the Arts.

The works on exhibit, which showcased the best examples of artwork created in high school visual art classes in Wayne County, ranged from the traditional to the extraordinarily innovative.

Alongside conventional oil paintings and pen and ink drawings were creations utilizing unusual mediums such as a portrait created by the meticulous placement of thousands of tiny circles from a hole punch, to a prom dress crafted entirely from duct tape.

During a reception for the talented artists whose work was on display at the Wayne Center for the Arts May 12, the students were recognized for their extraordinary efforts.

“I’m delighted about the quality of the student art work on display and the excellent work of our teachers in the teaching and learning process,” said Gary DeVault, Tri-County Educational Service Center fine arts consultant, adding, “we’re really pleased to have all 10 of the public high schools in Wayne County participating in the exhibit.”

According to DeVault, while “the judges had a really difficult time in the judging process” because of the high level of excellence displayed by the students, ultimately first, second, third and honorable mentions were selected in each of 16 categories ranging from printmaking and sculpture to color drawing and stained glass.

Among the blue ribbon winners were four Wooster High School students.

Taking first place in the oil/acrylic painting category was junior Seonhyung Kim, while senior Tori Massaro took top honors for printmaking. Junior Jake Bartolic received a blue ribbon in the non-clay sculpture category, while senior Jocelyn Peck took home the prize for digital/computer artwork.

But it was senior Matt Kaufman who took home the highest honors, when his color drawing entitled The Eyes Have It was named Best of Show in the two-dimensional category.

“Congratulations to Matt and all of the Wooster students whose art was displayed at the exhibit,” said Anita Jorney-Gifford, Wooster High School principal. “All of the artwork was amazing. There were so many artistic categories to submit to, which allowed students to create art in an area they really have a passion for.”

“I love seeing our students’ work displayed out in the community,” said Wooster City Schools Superintendent Michael Tefs. “The students put a tremendous amount of time and creativity into their projects, and they deserve to show them off. A big note of appreciation to our art faculty for providing our students with such a terrific program.”

Receiving the parallel honor of Best of Show in the 3-D category was Waynedale High School sophomore Lorene Miller, for her functional pottery piece entitled Tea Carousel.

DeVault said the exhibit, which is sponsored annually by the Tri-County Educational Service Center in partnership with Wayne Center for the Arts, fills the dual roles of providing an opportunity for the county’s most talented visual art students to exhibit their work in a gallery setting as well as promoting public interest in and support for visual art education programs in the county’s high schools by exhibiting the best examples of artwork created in visual art classes.

After the exhibit closed at the Wayne Center for the Arts, the blue ribbon winning pieces from the high school and junior high school exhibits were on display for a week at Buehler’s Milltown.



2011 Wayne County High School Art Exhibit awards

Best of Show Two-Dimensional

Matt Kaufman, Grade 12, Wooster High School, Color Drawing

Best of Show Three-Dimensional

Lorene Miller, Grade 10, Waynedale High School, Functional Pottery

Color Drawing

First Place: Matt Kaufman (Wooster)

Second Place: Music Chareonsri (Waynedale)

Third Place: Megan Becanson (Norwayne)

Honorable Mention: Carissa Engle (Smithville) and Erin Nussbaum (Waynedale)

Black and White Drawing

First Place: Brant Moore (Waynedale)

Second Place: Music Chareonsri (Waynedale)

Third Place: Sabrina Dickens (Northwestern)

Honorable Mention: Tori Massaro (Wooster), Jamee Varns (Wooster), Leah Wald (Dalton) and Jessica Wiandt (Northwestern)

Watercolor Painting

First Place: Isaac Waterman (Rittman)

Second Place: Austen Hackworth (Wooster)

Third Place: Zoe Madden (Wooster)

Honorable Mention: Isaac Waterman (Wooster)

Oil/Acrylic Painting

First Place: Seonhyung Kim (Wooster)

Second Place: Chuck Morlan (Chippewa)

Third Place: Tiffany Schaad (Orrville)

Honorable Mention: Ashley Casey (Waynedale), Sam Hardgrove (Chippewa), Zoe Madden (Wooster), Whitney Maibach (Norwayne) and Jamee Varns (Wooster)

Two-Dimensional Design

First Place: Music Chareonsri (Waynedale)

Second Place: Seonhyung Kim (Wooster)

Third Place: Tori Butash (Chippewa)

Honorable Mention: Jackie Anderson (Wooster) and Allison Uhl (Dalton)

Mixed Media

First Place: Rosa Zambrano (Orrville)

Second Place: Michaela Murray (Norwayne)

Third Place: Angelina Murawski (Chippewa)

Honorable Mention: Kerry Alaura (Northwestern), Zoe Hostetler (Orrville), Cecelia Maxwell (Northwestern) and Bayli Raden-Helmert (Wooster)

Printmaking

First Place: Tori Massaro (Wooster)

Second Place: Jed Bergman (Wooster)

Third Place: Anya Martynova (Northwestern)

Honorable Mention: Georgia Craig (Norwayne) and Thomas Hart (Chippewa)

Photography

First Place: Grace Jones (Waynedale)

Second Place: Briana Wiese (Chippewa)

Third Place: Anya Martynova (Northwestern)

Honorable Mention: Grace Jones (Waynedale) and Ariel Ligman (Wooster)

Clay Sculpture

First Place: Kurtis Schaefer (Northwestern)

Second Place: Keri Hastings (Triway)

Third Place: Ashley Beaver (Waynedale)

Honorable Mention: Carissa Engle (Smithville), Katie Foote (Triway) and Bailee Indermuhle (Smithville)

Non-Clay Sculpture

First Place: Jake Bartolic (Wooster)

Second Place: Danny Mason (Northwestern)

Third Place: Tanner Nussbaum (Waynedale)

Honorable Mention: Joyce Badertscher (Waynedale), Allison Uhl (Dalton) and Molly Zook (Chippewa)

Pottery

First Place: Lorene Miller (Waynedale)

Second Place: Rosa Zambrano (Orrville)

Third Place: Bre Geiser (Waynedale)

Honorable Mention: Allison Caskey (Orrville), Sabrina Dickens (Northwestern), Katie Foote (Triway) and Jon Roseler (Smithville)

Crafts

First Place: Kevin Dotterer (Rittman)

Second Place: Tricia Bartram (Rittman)

Third Place: Brittany Michael (Rittman)

Honorable Mention: Bree Barner (Norwayne) and Georgia Craig (Norwayne)

Textiles

First Place: Kerry Alaura (Northwestern)

Second Place: Stephanie Shattuck (Triway)

Commercial Art

First Place: Derek Reinhardt (Dalton)

Second Place: Donald Haiss (Wooster)

Stained Glass

First Place: Scott McDermott (Chippewa)

Second Place: Corey McKeand (Chippewa)

Digital/Computer Art

First Place: Jocelyn Peck (Wooster)

Second Place: Tabitha Woody (Norwayne)

Third Place: Trent Weinman (Norwayne)