Robinson Students Win Scholastic Art Awards

More than 400 middle and high school students from Fairfax County Public Schools have won regional awards in the Scholastic Art Awards competition. On Tuesday evening, Gold and Silver Key winners from Robinson Secondary School were recognized along with their peers at an awards ceremony at the Annandale campus of Northern Virginia Community College in the Ernst Community Cultural Center.

“What we’re here about tonight is not something that can be measured on a standardized test, said Stuart D. Gibson of Hunter Mill District. "It’s something that is our essence and the essence of our young people, something to celebrate with pride and joy because we know that this is something that our community values and we want to nurture it and continue to grow.”

The competition is a national program that seeks to recognize the achievements of art students in grades 7 through 12. The students’ teachers selected the submitted works last fall and were reviewed by a panel of judges comprised of professional artists and art educators in the Washington, D.C. metro area. The judges included photographers and illustrators, art gallery owners, Mark Cooley, George Mason University School of Art professor of New Media, and others.

This year, judges viewed and scored selections based on photographs of the actual artwork rather than viewing it in person.

“[Judges] look for creativity, a unique vision for the student as well as a higher skill level than people would expect, so it’s a really interesting experience to see all that really great work come into one place and you get to look at it as an art teacher and see the signs of all these different schools,” said Aaron Stratten, Fine Arts Resource Teacher with FCPS.

 The panel reviewed more than 165,000 works and 1,677 of those entries came from FCPS students. A total of 171 students won Gold Keys, 141 students won Silver Keys and 136 were awarded Certificates of Merit for their work in one or more of the following categories: drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, ceramics and glass pieces, sculptures, digital art, film and animation, architecture, fashion, jewelry, comic art, design, mixed media, and portfolios.

In addition to being recognized for the Scholastic Art Awards, students also received leadership team awards and scholarship awards. Several Gold Key Portfolio students won scholarship awards from the Arts Council of Fairfax County, Council for the Arts of Herndon/SAIC Technology and the Arts Program, Fairfax Art League, Lorton Arts Foundation, Springfield Art Guild and Vienna Arts Society.

All Gold Key winners are entered into the national Scholastic Art Awards competition. Those winners are announced in April. A full list of regional winners, their schools, and titles of their work can be found here. The students’ work will be on display in the Ernst Community Cultural Center until Thursday, Feb. 24th.

Robinson Secondary

1. Mariya Andreyeva - Photography, Fire Escape (Silver Key)
2. Eric Babbit - Sculpture, Break Dance (Silver Key)
3. Thomas Bayliss - Digital Art, Bassalisk (Gold Key)
4. Rachel Cali - Photo Portfolio, Photo Portfolio (Gold Key)
5. Rachel Cali - Photography, Pins and Flowers in Orange (Certificate of Merit)
6. Rachel Cho - Drawing, The Zebra (Certificate of Merit)
7. Garcia Mayra Dalance - Jewelry, Bite Me! (Gold Key)
8. Xuantran Dao - Drawing, I Killed The Wolf (Gold Key)
9. Xuantran Dao - Painting, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, (Certificate of Merit)
10. Zackary Douglass - Ceramics and Glass, Mask Pot (Silver Key)
11. Aaron Estis - Sculpture, Little Amazon Head (Certificate of Merit)
12. Dylan Hoang - Drawing, Chinese Take-Out (Gold Key)
13. Connor Hoene - Drawing, Prophetic (Certificate of Merit)
14. MinYoung Hong SK Photography, HeeSoo (Silver Key)
15. Christopher Kasbarian - Drawing, Dream Stage 4 (Gold Key)
16. Christopher Kasbarian - Drawing, Enlightment Era (Silver Key)
17. Christopher Kasbarian - Drawing, Space Dementia (Certificate of Merit)
18. Paul Kim - Sculpture, Prancing (Gold Key)
19. Allison Lee - Painting, Snow Cat (Gold Key)
20. Casey Lohrmann - Drawing, ME in the Art Room (Silver Key)
21. Genamarie McCant - Photography, Clap (Gold Key)
22. Abel Mejia - Drawing, The REAL Me (Certificate of Merit)
23. Genevieve Munch - Comic Art, Making New Friends (Certificate of Merit)
24. Erin Pracht - Fashion, Duct Tape and Bubble Dress (Gold Key)
25. Ryan Schrader - Mixed Media, Risk (Certificate of Merit)
26. Anna Waldrop - Drawing, Me: Outside the Box (Gold Key)
27. Ethan Whitecotton - Digital Art, Snow Flower (Certificate of Merit)