By: Lynn Stockton For the third year in a row, Jefferson High School artists have received BEST OF SHOW-state championship recognition, at the 2024 Illinois High School Art Exhibition- ArtConnectED Event in April held at the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago. This year, Jefferson High School artist Mya Hildebrand (Class of 2024) was recognized with her second Illinois Best of Show achievement. Last year, Mya received the BEST OF SHOW award in the DRAWING category competing against 1,200 artists from 150 schools. Again this year, Hildebrand received BEST OF SHOW in the PAINTING category for her work entitled “Fear of Beauty”. The transparency and beautiful golden color of honey was what inspired Mya to create this piece. Originally, she wanted to emphasize something that could be both beautiful and scary while also expressing a feeling of uneasiness. Her work addresses how most often bees elicit panicked reactions toward bees, so she challenged the viewer to see them in a new way by placing them within a context in which they seem serene. Using gouache, an opaque watercolor paint, Mya created the 27 x 19” portrait of her friend focusing on surface textures, color, and personal narrative, while working to convey a sense of tranquility.
Hildebrand was also recognized as a TOP 25 SENIOR in the 2024 IHSAE Senior Division with over 300 senior artists from across the state submitting portfolios to compete for individual awards as well as scholarships. Mya received five scholarship offers based on a review of her portfolio and received top 25 status based on her scholarship totals. She will be attending Northern Illinois University in the fall majoring in Studio Art and Art Education. The Jefferson High School Studio Art Department was also recognized as a TOP 20 Scholarship School. Jefferson artists were awarded scholarship offers totaling $2,020,000 with 10 senior artists invited to exhibit their work in the SENIOR SCHOLARSHIP EXHIBITION. As Illinois’ largest and most influential student art exhibition, the artistic achievements of students from across the state are celebrated in the IHSAE ArtConnectED event. Participation includes 150 high school visual art programs and over 1,200 competing students from city, suburban, public, private and magnet programs from across Illinois. The event provides talented young artists with opportunities to showcase their artwork and compete against the best schools in the state of Illinois. More information can be found on the IHSAE website- https://www.artconnected.org/ About the author: Lynn Stockton is a studio art teacher at Jefferson High School. She teaches Advanced Placement Studio Art, Art 2, Art 1 and Art Foundations. She is also the director of NIU's Summer Visual Art Camp, a residential program for high school students from across the Midwest. She just completed her 41st year of teaching at the high school level. |
