Blends of layered colors, blurred effects, and uncertain perspectives dance before your eyes. This is what one sees when taking in “Integration”, an art piece by Senior Gabby Zambuto.
“The piece invites viewers to contemplate the urgency of the issue and the need for collective action to limit waste and protect our planet,” Zambuto said.
Recently, Scholastic Art and Writing hosted their annual national competition. It is the longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. Zambuto and Junior Addy Nickolite entered multiple art pieces for this competition and were significantly recognized for them.
“It [the Scholastic Art and Writing competition] is the highest-profile art show in the state of Nebraska. Students can submit any work of art they have created in the last year,” art teacher Jon Austin said.
You can enter pieces in several categories and compete for three awards: Honorable Mention, Silver Key, and Gold Key.
Honorable Mentions are noteworthy achievements that demonstrate a student’s creativity and skill in design, showing they are in the top 20% of the region. Silver Keys indicate the artist is in the top 15% of the region, standing out to local programs that the receiving artist demonstrates exceptional ability. Gold Keys are automatically considered for national recognition and are in the top 10% of the region.
“Gold Key winners have a chance to win a national art award and have their artwork displayed in Washington D.C.,” Austin said.
Zambuto’s pieces competed in the Ceramics & Glass, Sculpture, Painting, Drawing & Illustration, and Mixed Media categories.
“One of the pieces that stuck out to me was Shoo Human!/Fruit Fly City… The piece depicts a person opening a fridge, and there is a fruit fly city inside with many different flies doing different activities, including buzzing around, eating rotting food, and playing poker. I used watercolor paint and a ballpoint pen to make this piece,” Zambuto said.
Zambuto won several awards, including Honorable Mentions, Silver Keys, and Gold Keys.
Both of Nickolite’s pieces were in the Drawing & Illustration category and they won Gold and Silver Keys.
“One of the art pieces I entered was “Diseased”. It is about my anxiety and how I cope with that or how I feel like I’m perceived or how I perceive myself,” Nickolite said.
As an artist, Nickolite feels that art can be a good emotional outlet and can help people express themselves.
“[Getting recognized] felt really cool. Personally, I don’t always feel great about my art and I get insecure about it. This is something I created from my mind and it’s very special to me,” Nickolite said.
Zambuto is pleased but feels even more shocked about her achievements than Nickolite.
“I was surprised [about the awards]. I filled out the application at 2 a.m. on a random night and once I was finished I went to bed. I didn’t really think about it again. I also wasn’t expecting to win as many awards as I did. It felt surreal,” Zambuto said.
Besides taking art classes at school and individual talent, much of their success in this competition can be attributed to attending Kent Bellows, a mostly student-driven art studio near downtown Omaha. The program is divided into semesters, and people are divided into different groups each semester, focusing on creating art with a specific medium.
Although students tend to work independently, there is a mentor assigned to each group, who can answer questions and provide assistance. Austin is a mentor there.
“Getting to work with students from around the metro area is a lot of fun. It’s also great seeing kids from different school districts connect, and art is what brings them together,” Austin said.
Both students plan to continue their art journeys in the future.
“I would love to pursue art in the future. My dream job would be a character designer for games or shows,” Nickolite said.
Nickolite is set on the Kansas City Art Institute and its programs, and Zambuto plans to major in industrial product design in college. The world of creativity is waiting for these new artists