Mark Walker, an art teacher at Mountlake Terrace High School, said the talent he sees in sophomore Clare Kaiyala is above even what he sees being produced by college students.
“Way above that,” he said. “She’s beyond talented. If I did what she did at that age, I probably wouldn’t be a school teacher right now.”
Kaiyala recently won a gold medal for her bronze sculpture, “The Forest,” in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
She is one of four gold medal and six silver medal winners from Snohomish County in the national competition, which is the longest-running and considered among the most prestigious such programs for students in seventh through 12th grades.
“It’s a huge deal,” said Maren Oates, a spokeswoman for Everett’s Schack Art Center. “I really can’t think of an art competition for middle and high school students that is even close to this level.”
The annual competition is sponsored by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers in New York City, which awarded a total of 1,180 gold medals this year, selected from an initial pool of nearly 350,000 submissions.
For some students the awards can be “a huge difference maker” for students in earning scholarships and being admitted to colleges and universities, Oates said.
Gold medal winners will be honored June 7 in a national ceremony at Carnegie Hall.
Kaiyala, who is 15, said she and her parents plan to travel to New York City for the ceremony.
Her sculpture, a figure emerging from a forest, came from the idea of a living tree. “It’s kind of hard to explain, but kind of a sentient tree,” she said.
Edmonds-Woodway High School junior Ken Razo won a gold medal for his photograph, “Standing Tall,” taken at Seattle’s Freeway Park.
“Even in the beginning photography class, I knew right away he had creative talent in photography,” said photography teacher Tiffany Davis. “It’s like he’s a natural.”
Razo said he, his mother, and younger brother plan to attend the awards ceremony.
Monroe High School junior Liana Lobchinskiy was awarded a gold medal in drawing and illustration for her pencil drawing of her quilts, “Messy Bed.”
“I wanted to focus on something that looks nice and find beauty somewhere where people wouldn’t normally look,” she said.
Her art teacher, Garrett Mirsky, has launched a Go Fund Me page to help with travel and hotel expenses for him, Liana, and a family member to go to New York.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior Flynn Thomas earned a gold medal for his comic art, “Bird and Boulder.” The eight pages of drawings he submitted involves what he describes as a deadpan crow character talking to a boulder. “All the expression came from the dialogue,” he said.
Inspiration came from a rather unlikely day — “crappy” — at a Portland mall, where he decided to skip the shopping and sit outside.
He watched as a a blackbird flew down and landed near a rock. “I decided to make a story about them and what they did,” he said.
The story continues with the bird’s wife and kids, he said. The boulder character is in every single panel.
Thomas, who has a website of his work, is in the Running Start program at Shoreline Community College. He said he plans to take a year off from schooling to travel, grow in his art career, and potentially participate in the Emerald City Comic Con.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com
Student winners
The 2018 national medal recipients from Snohomish County are:
Gold medals:
Clare Kaiyala, sculpture, “The Forest”, Mountlake Terrace High School
Liana Lobchinskiy, drawing and illustration, “Messy Bed,” Monroe High School
Ken Razo, photography, “Stand Tall,” Edmonds-Woodway High School
Flynn Thomas, comic art, “Bird and Boulder,” Mountlake Terrace High School
Silver medals:
Lindsay Ardry, ceramics & glass, “Pug Mask,” Glacier Peak High School
Darina Bulbotka, sculpture, “Untitled,” Voyager Middle School
Abigail Dahl, comic art, “When Vincent Met Color,” home school
Angie Kim, painting, “Surprise,” Kamiak High School
Mia Tukey, photography, “Who Said I Had to Choose?,” Glacier Peak High School
Tomas Urvizo, drawing and illustration, “Volkswagen Beetle,” Kamiak High School
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
Gallery
