Students at Malden High School were awarded with Gold Keys, Silver Keys, or an Honorable Mention for their artwork by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. The students submitted their work to the judges in hopes of being recognized by receiving an award.
The Globe Scholastic Art and Writing Awards were established by the Scholastic Corporation in 1923 and have been run by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers since 1994. This program has been recognizing young artists and writers every year with a Gold Medal or Silver Medal for their national awards or a Gold Key, Silver Key, or Honorable Mention for regional awards. Accepted forms of art are include architecture, sculpture, painting, photography, poetry, dramatic script, fashion, animation, and video games.
Jimmy Em, a sophomore at MHS, won a Silver Key award for a piece of art that he completed in his Studio II class with Mr. Luongo. He was inspired to do this portrait of Josh Thomas, an Australian actor, by the work of previous students from Mr. Luongo's class. This portrait is done only in horizontal lines made by a thin sharpie to illustrate the actor. Em admires that with art “you can tell a story, send a message, and show abstract ideas that words can't explain”. He wants younger artists to “Put yourself into your piece and be proud of what you've done.”
Junior Daria Lee, won a Gold Key for a book cover she made for the novel, Ghost Girl. She felt that the book cover for Ghost Girl was too “girly,” so she decided to create a creepier rendition of it with the girl in the hallway where she died by choking on a gummy bear. She decided to make this cover both creepy and girly, so she made the background primarily in a dark pink. This cover was done in her Digital Art class, so she used Photoshop and gathered her images from Google Images to create this award-winning work.
According to Lee, the best thing about art is "being able to do what I want, even if it's wrong, and saying that it is right since it's all about expression.” She is not sure whether she wants to pursue art in her future or not. If she does, she would want to be an animator for one of the major studios out there such as Pixar or Studio Ghibli. She believes that learning the fundamentals of art is the most important thing to do and that people should go with their gut instead of listening to what other people might say. "If you follow your voice and your heart, then it's original and what [others] think doesn't matter."
Many other students at MHS won awards for their outstanding work including Amanda Nguyen, also a member of The Blue and Gold, who won a Gold Key for her cover of Little Red Riding Hood. Other Silver Key winners include, Tanqiu Chen, Eric Lee, Emily Mo, Yan Zheng, and Samantha Drapinski. The students who won an Honorable Mention include, Timur Berilo, Gianna Giuliano, Jade Liu, Emily Mo, Chu Shi, Daria Lee, and Timmy Nsubuga.
Joseph Luongo, an art teacher at MHS, is proud of his students that did win an award from the Globe Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Luongo teaches Studio I and II, Digital Art I and II, and Foundations of Art. Students are taught to appreciate their own talents and gain a greater appreciation of art. Winning Gold Keys or any other award will “ make [the winners] look good, makes [their art teacher] look good, and it’s great for the school.” Luongo is proud of his Gold Key winners because they’re both from his Digital Art classes which are barely a year old. Students should be able to develop good habits of mind, they can learn patience, and they learn how to be persistent.
Art students will soon be able to see their artwork from the year at the Blue and Gold Gallery. They will have to wait another year to enter their artwork for the chance to be recognized for their outstanding achievements in art.
