By DANI BARKEY,
WCS Communications and Accountability Officer

WARSAW — In our most successful year ever, WCHS Art students received 33 awards in the individual entry categories and six more awards in the senior portfolio category. The Gold Key winners advance to the next round of judging at the national level in New York. The recognition for individual student artists is a great honor and having artwork on display at a well-known gallery is very prestigious.

The individual high school students receiving Gold Key Awards were Miguelangel Gomez, Lilli Hertel, Pedro Monsivais, Aric Swihart, Emily Bailey, Emma Lehman, Patrick Mosher, Lauren Orr and Drake Swartzentruber. Kortney Stahl won two Silver Keys and other students winning Silver were Drake Swartzentruber, Jessica Skeans, Emma Lehman, Pedro Monsivais, Lauren Shaffner, Patrick Mosher, Alex Sanchez and Rosalyn Miller.

Also recognized with honorable mention and included in the exhibit are Kacie Hampton, Lilli Hertel, Emma Lehman, Victoria OBryant, Colton Andrews, Keegan Bayne, Cheyenne Gibson, Matt Kolbe, Gustavo Cartagena and Rosalyn Miller with two honorable mentions.

In addition to the individual entries, the seniors in AP Studio Art also submitted their complete portfolios for selection in the region. This is a chance for students to pull together their finest pieces and package them into a well-organized and thoughtful presentation of their body of work. These are also used for scholarship applications, entry into fine art programs, and represent half of their AP portfolio for college credit.

We are very proud that Aarshia Jain and Patrick Mosher earned Gold Key Awards for their portfolios. Colton Andrews was awarded a Silver Key and Emily Bailey, Kara Blair, and Miguelangel Gomez were awarded honorable mention for their projects. We are very proud of all of them for representing Warsaw so well at this competition.

Students from Edgewood Middle School also had great success this year and Gold Key Awards were given to Emma Marshall and Grant Knight, both in sculpture. The Silver Key winners were Morgan Goodman in sculpture and grant knight in comic art. Congratulations to all of these talented art students from both schools.

The above students will receive special recognition at the awards presentation at the South Bend Museum of Art on Feb. 7, and the students’ works will be on display at the Warner Gallery at the South Bend Museum of Art until Feb. 28. Congratulations WCS Art students!