Monadnock High Student’s Art Work to Hang on Capitol Hill
ART
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
April 17, 2008
WASHINGTON – In June a Swanzey high school student’s art work will join works by students from across the country in an art exhibition in the tunnel that leads from the Capitol to the House office buildings.
Alison Dreyfuss, a 17-year-old senior at Monadnock Regional High School, on Saturday won first place in the 2nd Congressional District Art Exhibition held at Plymouth State University and sponsored by Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H. Her “Casualties of Winter” was part of “a project that the whole class was doing,” Dreyfuss said.
Her art teacher, Debbra Crowder, “said it was really great and she was going to put it into the competition,” Dreyfuss said. “I just went along with what she suggested.”
Dreyfuss said her winning piece features a mailbox “that had been kind of battered, hit by a plow and rust,” with Mrs. Crowder’s name on it. She used charcoal and conte crayons, which are a mixture of graphite and clay, to create it.
“It’s very important to encourage young artists.… [There] aren’t that many national competitions for young artists to enter at this level,” Rep. Hodes said.
“The winning artwork is hung in the corridor that goes…right to the Capitol…so literally thousands and thousands and thousands every year get to see the artwork,” he said. “To have your work displayed in the Capitol is pretty high level.”
According to a information from Rep. Hodes’ office, the Monadnock region was well represented in the exhibition; of the 43 entries, nine came from Fall Mountain Regional High School, four from ConVal Regional High School and five from Monadnock Regional High School.
“There’s a lot of interest and terrific involvement from Mondanock region,” Hodes said.
Karen Lyle, owner of Creative Encounters, a custom framing store in Keene, was tapped to frame the winning artwork.
The competition is “one of those things that just makes you smile,” Lyle said.
The competition is a national event, started in 1982. Since then more than 650,000 high school students from across the country have been involved, according to a statement from Mark Bergman, communications director for Rep. Hodes.
The winning artwork hangs for 11 months, starting in June, in the Cannon Tunnel, which connects the Cannon House Office Building and the Capitol.
The winner in the 2nd District of New Hampshire receives three round-trip tickets courtesy of Southwest Airlines to visit Washington for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 25. Also, if the winner is interested in starting his or her post-secondary education, the Savannah College of Art and Design offers a $5,000 “artistic honors scholarship,” according to Rep. Hodes.
Dreyfuss said she is set to attend Keene State College in the fall and plans to become a teacher. She has no plans to pursue art, though she took classes throughout high school and has been in Mrs. Crowder’s advanced placement art class for two years.
“I think any competition in which a young artist can obtain recognition for their ability is important because it allows them to feel confident in pursuing art,” Dreyfuss said. “A lot of kids don’t realize that there are opportunities where you can get a job and actually make money making art.”
The second and third-place winners, Erik Warn, a senior at Plymouth Regional High School, and Kiera McTigue, a senior at Pembroke Academy, will have their work displayed in Rep. Hodes’ district offices.
Levy Smith, a junior at Monadnock Regional High School, received an honorable mention for his work.
“I think it’s very important to provide opportunities for young artists to practice…. Young artists today are mature artists of tomorrow,” Rep. Hodes said. “Ultimately society and the country are often judged by history more on the base of lasting works of art than by any other measure.”
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