On Nov. 19, three seniors received a phone call from Miami. Dana Colston’s phone buzzed in the middle of a biology lab, prompting her to run out of class, where she spotted Veronica Ye rushing to their art teacher’s room. Meanwhile, Caroline Matthews retrieved her phone after finishing a test and, upon noticing a missed call from Miami, hurried to the art room as well. All three students had just been notified that they had won the YoungArts competition with distinction.
“I really didn’t think I was going to win once I found out Lane (a Lovejoy graduate who also got the award this year) was selected as a winner because it’s really uncommon for multiple people from the same school in the same discipline to get selected,” Colston said. “We spent a good few minutes celebrating by jumping up and down and yelling with a few other AP Drawing kids before I stepped out and called the number back. I was ecstatic the rest of the day and texted my family and friends because I was so excited.”
YoungArts is known as one of the most prestigious art competitions nationwide. It includes 10 different disciplines. This year, the competition had over 11,000 applicants, 800 total winners were chosen and out of those, 170 were chosen with distinction. Colston and Ye won with distinction in visual arts and Matthews won with distinction in design.
“For me, I prepared a portfolio of 8-10 pieces that we submitted alongside an artist statement describing both our motivation for being an artist and the thinking behind our work,” Ye said. “I submitted my body of work from my junior year, so Mac’s guidance was integral to the refinement of my work and writing.”
Winning with distinction allows students to participate in an all-expenses-paid week-long trip to Miami for National YoungArts Week. In January, the three students traveled to Miami with students from all over the country and engaged in a week of learning.
“Throughout the week we received presentations from both the panelists that selected our work and real professionals in the field, old and young,” Matthews said. “It was really neat seeing how my passion can become a real, achievable career. My favorite workshop was actually not related to design in the general sense: we went on a field trip to a local farm in order to see the parts of Miami that are often forgotten. It was at this farm while pulling weeds that I grew more connected to the panelists and my fellow designers, and I learned firsthand the importance of a strong community.”
Students at YoungArts Week maintained a full schedule from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. They completed workshops and learned about their panelists’ and RAs’ work. Students were able to hear from guest artists and collaborate with the winners from their interdisciplinary classes. But most importantly they were able to connect and form connections with fellow artists.
“Going to Miami was one of the best experiences of my life,” Colston said. “It really helped me to broaden my perspective as an artist. I learned a lot about the importance of collaboration within visual arts, as well as between other disciplines as well. Going to YoungArts also allowed me to grow very close to all the other visual arts winners with distinction and I’ve been able to bounce piece ideas off of them and lean on them as both artistic and personal supports. I’ve also had a better perspective on how even though all of our work was very different, we all deserved to be there, not one more than the other. I’ve been able to gain respect for more artists and art forms instead of making flash judgments.”
