Student Winners Of 2018 Congressional Art Competition Announced

LINCOLNSHIRE, IL — Congressman Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield) announced the winners of the 2018 Congressional Art Competition Monday at the David Adler Music and Arts Center in Libertyville. Three student artists had their work selected for display in Washington D.C. and in Schneider's local office after 55 students attending 15 different high schools across the 10th Congressional District submitted art prompted by the theme of "Dreams."

The winning entry will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year, while the second place selection will be on display in Schneider's Lincolnshire office. The work of the third place honoree will appear in the congressman's Washington office.

For the second straight year, young women swept the top honors, which were awarded to students from Waukegan High School, Deerfield High School and Glenbrook North High School.

Top prize went to Joselyn Duvon of Waukegan High School, for her work "Sueña para un mejor mañana" ("Dream for a better tomorrow," in Spanish.) It features a child sitting on a bed looking up at a group of Monarch butterflies. Behind her are red bars that evoke a toddler's crib, the bars of a prison and the stripes of a United States flag below a vast starry expanse of an open night sky.

In addition to having her art displayed along the pedestrian tunnel underneath Capitol Hill, Duvon will receive two round-trip airline tickets to Washington D.C. from Southwest Airlines. She'll also have an opportunity to attend the Congressional Art Competition award ceremony later this year, where her artwork will be formally hung alongside winners from the other 434 congressional districts.

Rachel Drobetskiy of Glenbrook North High School's "Ethereal" was awarded second place. It will be displayed at Schneider's district office.

Set in a forest, Drobetskiy's textured work applies the visual pattern of the night sky to wildlife and hands representing the viewer, suggesting all living creatures are connected by the fabric of the universe.

Annika Sornson, of Deerfield High School, was awarded third place. Her work “Untitled” will head to the walls of the congressman's D.C. office.

In an illustration reminiscent of a classic psychedelic childhood tale – think something by Roald Dahl or Lewis Caroll – Sornson portrays a young boy outfitted for adventure riding atop what appears to be a tortoise of otherworldly size. (Or is it a normal-sized turtle and a miniature boy?)

A panel of three local judges last Friday picked the winners without looking at the names or schools of the artists. They included Waukegan Arts Council Co-Founder Lori Nerheim, Amdur Productions Founder Amy Amdur and Jena Mertz, coordinator at the Adler Center.

"The talent of these young adults just blew me away, it was so hard to determine the best pieces," Amdur said.

Since 1982, more than 650,000 students have taken part in the annual Artistic Discovery visual art competition.

Last year: Students from Lake Forest, Glenbrook North and Stevenson High Schools Took Top Prizes