Six area students win seven gold medals in the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Audrey Lendvay, an eighth grader at LaVilla School of the Arts, received two gold medals in the national competition of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a nationwide contest started in 1923, which this year drew 350,000 entries.
In addition to her two gold medals, Lendvay was awarded the American Visions Medal, a sort of best-in-show award for student artists in this six-county region. Only one American Visions Medal is awarded in each district of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Other gold medalists were Tatiana Barbosa of Creekside High School, Chidinmma Egemon and Joyce Santos of Paxon School for Advanced Studies, Autumn McSwain of the LaVilla School of the Arts, and Quinlan Richmond of Ponte Vedra High School. Barbosa and Egemonu also each won one of the 26 silver medals awarded to students in this six-county region.
A total of about 2,800 works of art were submitted from students in Duval, Clay, Baker, Nassau, St. Johns and Volusia counties to the local competition, said Laurie Brown, a visual art specialist with the Duval County Public Schools. About 350 art works were awarded gold keys and entered in the national competition.
A total of 33 gold and silver medals were given to 29 student artists in this district, with Lendvay winning two golds, Barbosa and Egemonu each winning a gold and a silver, and Will Skinner of The Bolles School winning two silvers.
Lendvay is in her first year at LaVilla, having previously attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School. She auditioned for admission to LaVilla as a seventh grader and was deemed qualified. But with more qualified candidates than openings, LaVilla held a lottery and she was not admitted. That changed this school year.
Lendvay said she has been “drawing for most of my life” and began taking art lessons as a fifth grader. But being at LaVilla has helped her expand her repertoire.
“I’ve been introduced to so many styles and media,” she said. “Exploration is encouraged here.”
“Digital Hostage,” which won both a gold medal and the American Visions Medal, has a background that was created with black acrylic paint. The figure is composed of paint chips. “Jackalope,” which also won a gold medal, is made of terra cotta clay covered in acrylic paint.
Barbosa, a senior at Creekside High School in St. Johns County, won her gold medal for “Fair,” a sculpture of a ferris wheel and a nearby food stand made of paper. Ultimately Barbosa wants to create an entire fair out paper sculptures. Barbosa also won a silver medal for “wearable art.”
She says she’s “done art my entire life … I plan on doing a lot more.”
She said she’ll probably attend Florida State College at Jacksonville next year and then eventually transfer to the University of North Florida or Florida State University where she will study “interior design, maybe.”
Egemon, an 11th grader at Paxon School for Advanced Studies, won a gold medal for a photograph of her young brother, “U.D.” She also won a silver medal for “Mindful Thoughts.”
A native of Nigeria, she came the U.S. in 2006 when she was five. She began taking photos in the eighth grade.
“It’s a recreational thing,” said Egemon, who shoots with a D7200 Nikon. “I do it whenever I’m stressed out.”
Egemon said she plans to major in political science in college.
“I don’t plan on studying photography,” she said. “I’ll do it as a hobby or a side business.”
Santos, a senior at Paxon won her gold medal for “Mon Amour,” a watercolor portrait of her boyfriend done as a school assignment last school year
“I’ve been drawing since I was a little girl,” Santos said. “It’s a passion of mine.”
Winning a gold medal was a bit of a surprise for Santos. She had entered “Mon Amour” in a different competition last year and it only earned honorable mention.
“I didn’t expect this,” she said.
She’s going to UF, where she wants to minor in art.
“I want to keep that foundation,” she said. “I love the arts.”
But she plans to become a pharmacist. She said her parents want her to go into medicine and since she likes chemistry more than biology, pharmacy seemed the logical choice.
Richmond, a senior at Ponte Vedra High School, is also planning a future in medicine. She will attend the University of Central Florida next year and plans to study nursing. Anatomy is an interest of hers, she said.
That interest is reflected in her gold medal winning “Cage,” an acrylic-on-canvas painting of a rib cage filled with flowers and marked with anatomical notations.
“Art is a side hobby,” she said. “I hope to keep up with it because I love it.”
LaVilla student McSwain, whose “The Witch of Endless Hill” also won a gold medal, declined to be interviewed for this story.
Besides Barbosa, Egemon and Skinner, silver medal winners were: Shelby Brackett, Creekside High School; Michael Coleman, Kaia Goodrich, Deytona Kelly and Isaac Riley, LaVilla School of the Arts; Elizabeth Conklin and Emmy Evans, the Episcopal School of Jacksonville; Matthew Gibson and Mary Watson, Ponte Vedra High School; Krystal Honeyghan, Deland High School; Iona Johnson, Lee High School; Corey Kreisel, Angel Lin, Anna Lopez and Sneha Moorthy; Douglas Anderson School of the Arts; Lewis Rowan, Ashley Teagarden and Kate Shif, New Smyrna Beach High School; Timothy Norman, Fletcher High School; Chelbi Robinson, Paxon School for Advanced Studies; Brianna Rodriguez, First Coast High School.
Charlie Patton: (904) 359-4413
