by Ashley Miller

The PCM High School art program has had an abundance of talent this year. First, with
sophomore Bella George’s painting heading on over to the State Historical Building in Des Moines. George has won once again with her detailed painting, but now senior Tristan Clark is joining the winners club of the art world.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards have been held since 1923, recognizing the artistic and literary ability of students across the nation, grades seven through 12. Students are judged blindly on their work by leaders of both the visual and literary fields. This year, two PCM students were chosen out of 905 art submissions. Those students were Clark and George. Several students from PCM sent in artwork, but these two were the victors.
“I felt like they were the best representation of what we’ve been doing in class over the course of the semester. It was their best work up to that date,” Ms. Sara Kirk, the High School Art Teacher said.
Clark won the Silver Key for Drawing and Illustration with his drawing “Alligator Island”; he was one of 20 selected for this award. “It feels pretty cool winning this award,” Clark said. “I was expecting some kind of award, but I wasn’t expecting second place.”
George won the Gold Key for her painting “Stacy’s Mom,” which features the pop singer and upcoming actress Lady Gaga. George was one of seven selected for this award in the category of Painting. “Stacy’s Mom” will be sent to New York City to be judged nationally along with the other Gold Key winning pieces. Her painting will be residing at the Des Moines Historical Art Building until March 7. “I was really surprised [to win] because of how many people were a part of the show. I feel proud of myself and excited to see if I did okay,” George said.
“I didn’t really expect them to win because we submitted them in December, and we never really heard anything from them. We got them back last week, and they said that they’d been selected,” Kirk said. “I’m really proud of them because I think that it’s their project that they had worked the hardest on, and they are the students who always work pretty hard in their department.”
The number of participants has been gradually growing over the past few years. Next year, more students will be entered, and hopefully more will win. There will be an award banquet to honor the winning students and teachers in Iowa City on April 11.