Records were made to be broken, but, boy did the Fairfield artists outdo themselves this year!
A year ago, Fairfield art teachers Wendi Sparks and Kim Amor were celebrating like it was 1999 after 53 of their student art entries were recognized by the good people at the Scholastic Art & Writing organization. With that said, the party is going to be a lot busier this year as the Fairfield art department absolutely crushed its old record with a whopping 104 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards received in 2024!
Those 104 awards were garnered by a whopping 28 different individuals who were categorized either Gold, Silver or Honorable Mention Keys, plus two Gold Key Portfolios - Lee Rodman and Katie Todd - and one Silver Key Portfolio - Katie Todd.
Todd herself pulled in an unbelievable 10 Keys (eight Gold, two Silver) and three Honorable Mentions along with the two Portfolios, and Keira Johnston earned nine Keys (three Gold, six Silver) and five Honorable Mentions to lead the way for Fairfield.
Elizabeth Cunningham had seven total awards, Rodman six total awards and Gabriel Corbin five total awards to bolster the Fairfield lineup.
“I’m so proud of this incredible group of art students,” Sparks noted. “This is an especially creative group of seniors whom I’ve spent the last few years with, exploring new media and tapping into their specific interests and talents while also pushing them to create work with more content and voice. So we had a creative explosion this year as seniors as well as underclassmen were busy with painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, mixed media, digital art, animation, and art portfolios. We’ve done it all and we’re not done yet. We can’t wait to show you everything at the Art Festival in May!”
Gold and Silver Key artwork along with Gold Portfolios will be physically displayed at the South Bend Museum of Art from March 2 through April 14. All winners will attend an awards ceremony in March.
Students who have won Gold Keys will have their works judged in New York for consideration of the National Award, to which Aislin Hunsberger, Fairfield senior, won a National Award as a junior. Hunsberger was also among the Gold Key winners.
Fairfield is excited to join the Portfolio category for the first time, a series of six distinct works that communicate a single cohesive idea of visual investigation.
Here are our Scholastic Art Award winners for 2024:
Gold Key Portfolio: Lee Rodman, Katie Todd
Silver Key Portfolio: Katie Todd
Gold Key: Katie Todd (8), Keira Johnston (3), Elizabeth Cunningham (2), Tori Jackson (2), Ava Packer, Chloe Cripe, Dixie Weaver, Kylie Beachy, Lee Rodman, Aislin Hunsberger, Carissa Flick, Gale Hershberger, Lily Thieszen, Gabriel Corbin, Jessica Ortiz Perez
Silver Key: Keira Johnston (6), Lizabeth Freestone (3), Lee Rodman (3), Allison Tinsley (3), Katie Todd (2), Elizabeth Cunningham (2), Hudson Bontrager (2), Dixie Weaver, Ava Packer, Landyn Quast, Mallory Shultz, Caleb Silliman, Gabriel Corbin, Aislin Hunsberger, Connor Miller, Tori Jackson, Dylan Gill
Honorable Mention: Keira Johnston (5), Elizabeth Cunningham (3), Gabriel Corbin (3), Katie Todd (3), Caleb Silliman (2), Allison Tinsley (2), Haley Bontrager (2), Tori Jackson (2), Aislin Hunsberger (2), Lee Rodman (2), Chloe Cripe (2), Mallory Shultz (2), Lizabeth Freestone (2), Dixie Weaver (2), Carissa Flick, Celeste Sanchez Gaspar, Avery Schrock, Lily Thieszen, Jessica Ortiz Perez, Gale Hershberger, Dylan Gill, Ashler Mehl, Marci Gill, Connor Miller