Students Honored At Elementary Art Competition
Three KCS students’ artwork will be on display at the Tennessee State Museum next year, as part of a statewide competition.
Elementary art teachers from across the state could submit their students’ work for the State of Tennessee Art Review and Showcase (STARS) competition, but only 19 pieces, the top three per grade level and one best of show, were selected. The showcase will be open to the public from January to May.
The KCS honorees are:
- 1st grader Joyce Hu (3rd place, Farragut Primary, art teacher Ruth Granroth),
- 3rd grader Leah Powers (3rd place, Powell Elementary, art teacher Jenny Snead), and
- 4th grader Avery Quilty (3rd place, Pleasant Ridge Elementary, art teacher Genevieve Byrd).
Avery Quilty’s piece, which she named “Ice Cream Spidey,” was nominated by Byrd, who taught the fourth grade class about Henri Matisse, an artist famous for his collages.
“I wanted them to be able to look at his art and see how you can combine different types of shapes,” Byrd said. “I gave them a really, really broad theme. I said, ‘We’re going to combine a creature or animal with food.’”
Quilty sketched four different designs and decided to combine a strawberry ice cream cone with a six-legged spider, which she constructed out of paper and glue.
“This is the first time something really big has happened in my life,” Quilty said.
She plans to travel to Nashville in January for the ribbon presentation and to view her art in a museum for the first time.
The fourth grader hopes to continue growing her artistic skills and one day become an animator.