Lizzie Dunn was one of several students statewide that was awarded the Scholastic Art and Writing Award, which is the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition initiative for creative teens. This year in Maine, a total of 908 submissions were judged.
The daughter of Bart Dunn and Nancy Beasley, Dunn received the highest honor, the Gold Key Award, for her detailed and realistic colored pencil portrait, “Jill.” She estimated that it took her roughly 40 hours to complete the project.
“Winning this award is a huge honor to me personally because, as an artist and perfectionist, it is hard to recognize and appreciate my own work, so this was a huge confirmation for me,” Dunn said. “Also, it is a huge honor to represent my school as a wonderful artistic community. I will be planning on attending the ceremony in February at MECA with my amazing art instructor, Mrs. [Pam] Chernesky.”
The Maine Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Exhibition will feature the Gold Key and Silver Key award winners plus examples of recognized portfolio winners. The exhibition will take place at Maine College of Art in Portland from Jan. 28 to Feb. 11, 2017.
The awards ceremony will be on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017 beginning at 1 p.m., which will serve as a closing ceremony with students able to take their artwork home with them.
“For this competition, the artwork could not be based on a copyrighted photograph, which meant that I’d have to take my own,” Dunn said. “I decided on my best friend Jillian, and was lucky that she’d allow me to display her enlarged face.”
Regional Gold Key works are then judged nationally by an impressive panel of creative-industry experts to receive national medals. In New York City, panels of nationally renowned artists, art professionals, and arts educators review Gold Key works from across the country.
Artwork is judged in the digital format. Jurors select work for national recognition based on three criteria — originality, technical skill and emergence of a personal vision. If selected, National Medalists are recognized in part at the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Regional Gold and Silver Key award-winners are also judged for the Congressional Art Competition. One artwork from each of Maine’s Congressional Districts will be selected to be exhibited in Washington, DC. Students in grades 7-11 who receive a Gold or Silver Key are also eligible to apply for scholarships for summer art programs.
One of the most asked questions she receives on the piece of artwork, is why isn’t her subject smiling?
“The answer is that I asked her not to pose or be anything other than what she was at the moment I took the picture,” Dunn said. “I was overall inspired by reality. To compensate for the fact that the drawing isn’t real, I wanted to make the emotion exuded from the picture be genuine.”
