Lake Hamilton student wins annual Congressional Art contest
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, of Hot Springs, recently announced the 4th Congressional District winners of the 2020 Congressional Art Competition.
“I look forward to the art competition every year, and I’m always amazed by the talent and creativity of high school students around the district. Even though COVID-19 forced us to move the whole program online this year, that didn’t stop students from submitting incredible artwork! Thanks to all of our judges for taking time to select the winning pieces. Congratulations to the 2020 winners, and I can’t wait to see Stevie’s piece hanging in the U.S. Capitol,” Westerman said in a news release.
The top five places were as follows:
• First place — Stevie Hopson of Lake Hamilton High School, for a colored pencil drawing entitled “No Longer Fruitless.”
• Second place — Annie Grace Westerman of Fountain Lake High School, for a painting entitled “Quarantine: My Civic Duty.”
• Third place — Dominique Palucis of County Line High School, for a painting entitled “Lost.”
• Fourth place was a threeway tie — “Hope,” graphite and ink drawing by Kaiolahio Sooman-Stanton of Garrett Memorial Christian School; “Peanut M & M’s,” marker and colored pencil drawing by Lauren Thompson of Woodlawn High School; and “Above the Bay,” mixed media painting by Ashlly Lambaren of Lakeside High School.
• Fifth place — Ella Suffren of Lakeside High School, for an oil painting entitled “Portrait of
Bob Marley.”
Members of the 2020 judging panel were Mary Zunick, Hot Springs Cultural Alliance, Stephanie Sims, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Jimmy Bryant, Division of Arkansas Heritage, Lisa Pennington, University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana, and Tammy Harrington, University of the Ozarks.
“Congratulations to Lake Hamilton High School 11thgrade student, Stevie Hopson, for winning Congressman Bruce Westerman’s District Art Competition for 2020,” the school district said in a news release.
The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982. Since then, over 650,000 high school students have participated in this nationwide event, enabling high school students to showcase their artistic ability, the release said.
“The artwork of the winner from each Congressional District will be prominently displayed in the Cannon Tunnel that connects the House office-building complex to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
“Each year, over 3 million people view this gallery as they walk through the Cannon Tunnel. The winner will also receive two round-trip tickets to Washington, D.C., where they will attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony and may be eligible for a scholarship to one of the leading colleges in art and design in the United States.”