Hampton students honored for outstanding artwork

For the 100th anniversary of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Hampton High School made an impressive showing.

Eleven students were honored during the March 13 school board meeting for earning awards in the Pittsburgh region of the presenting organization, the New York City-based Alliance for Young Artists and Writers.

Among those offering congratulations was Superintendent Michael Loughead, who attended the awards ceremony in February at Carnegie Mellon University.

“I would put the quality of our student artwork up against any of the artwork I saw there. It was very impressive,” he said. “The detail, the dedication but also the message that these students are communicating through their artwork is very powerful.”

He also acknowledged high school art teacher Kate Owens, along with the students’ parents, for helping to foster their creativity.

Three Hampton students won Gold Key awards: Amanda Elstner for “Roxy,” a finely detailed pet portrait; Emma Homison for “Keep Your Eyes Peeled,” featuring a literal depiction of the title; and Marissa Vizzoca for “At Peace,” a bird’s-eye view of fish swimming in blue water.

Emma and Amanda also earned honorable mention for “I’m All Ears” and “Post Malone,” respectively.

Other multiple winners were David Poirier, Silver Key for “Midwest” and honorable mention for “Erlend Øye”; Kiley Vande Geest, Silver Key for “A Forest Nap” and honorable mention for “Rapunzel’s Tower”; and Haley Martin, honorable mention for “Dissociation” and “Machine Gun Kelly Portrait.”

Honorable mentions also went to Woohyon Chong, “Run!”; Esther Cohen, “Home in Winter”; Suying Jiang, “Beauty in Cold Winter”; Kathryn Mazzotta, “Painting Kangaroo; and Sadie Shelkey, “Summer Night’s Respite.”

Slides of all the artwork were projected at the school board meeting as the students who were present accepted certificates of achievement from the district.