 Seniors Alyssa Bonini and Kimberly Freitas have been awarded first place and honorable mention respectively in the 26th Annual Congressional Art Competition for the First Congressional District of Oregon (Congressman David Wu). As the winner, Alyssa received a $1,000 scholarship to the Art Institute of Portland, as well as an invitation to the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, where her artwork will be displayed for one year. Alyssa also receives three round-trip airline tickets to Washington, DC to attend the June 27th ceremony. Alyssa’s winning artwork is a digital photograph of a rider on a bucking bronco titled Bucking Chutes. She took the photograph with a small digital camera at the Pendleton Round Up last fall from a seat above the bull bucking chutes. Kimberly’s winning artwork is a photograph titled Mischievous Innocence. She took the photograph of her five year old cousin with a 35mm camera.
“I congratulate Alyssa and Kimberly for entering the Congressional Art Contest!” says art teacher Kathy Mitchell, “It not only takes high quality artwork, but organization as well. Besides preparing the work by matting or mounting it, they need to get parent signatures on the application, and submit it by the due date. With so many homework deadlines, it takes a motivated student to get everything together to enter.”
The girls were honored for their accomplishments at a reception on 1st Thursday, May 3rd, at The Art Institute of Portland, 1122 NW Davis St. in the Pearl District. This year isn’t the first time a St. Mary’s student has been recognized in the Congressional Art Competition. Last year, Ali Gens ’06, now a student at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), was runner-up for her piece, Old Town/China Town. Her work was on display for the month of May 2006 in the lobby of The Art Institute of Portland.
Founded by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, St. Mary’s Academy of Portland, is Oregon’s oldest continuously operating secondary school and one of 716 all-female schools in the country. The student body represents a diverse background of young women from over 30 urban, suburban, and rural communities in Oregon and Southwest Washington. St. Mary’s Academy is distinguished by development of the whole person, and is the only school in the state to receive three U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools awards.
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