Austin C. '28 and Kingston M. '28 Earn Gold and Silver Keys in Arts

SAWA is a national competition hosted by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers that recognizes students with exceptional literary and artistic talent. The Trailblazers' creativity, skills, and efforts have been extraordinary, as showcased by their artwork. Austin C. '28 earned a Gold Key for his "Ceramic Donuts," an honor that automatically qualifies his work for submission to the national competition. Kingston M. '28 received a silver key for his "Barbecue Rib Dinner," while Alysa M. '28 and Candy L. '28 were both awarded honorable mentions for their "Dim Sum" and "Oden."

Each award-winning sculpture pushed the medium of clay to its capacity and transformed ceramics into food before our eyes. "I had to learn a lot of interesting techniques to sculpt the curve of the ribs and slowly combine the pieces into one object. I also learned how to efficiently carve and make something hollow to survive the firing process," said Kingston. He added, "To celebrate, we went out for ribs."

In addition to being incredibly realistic, these sculptures convey a specific point of view, time period, and place. The colors, details, and texture of each piece of food transports us into the artist's mind and memory, creating a sensory and intellectual experience for the viewer. "This was my first clay project, and I cannot believe it turned out so well. I made donuts because my dad, brother, and I used to go to the donut place near us every Wednesday when we were younger," shared Austin. "My brother always got chocolate, I got the glazed, and my dad got the strawberry, so that's why I made those flavors."

Congratulations to all these talented students for pouring their hearts and hard work into these creative and impressively realistic pieces and receiving recognition from the esteemed Scholastic Art Foundation.