Glenbrook North Student Wins Congressional Art Competition

LINCOLNSHIRE, IL — Young artists attending local high schools were honored last week as U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider announced the winners of the 2019 Congressional Art Competition for the 10th Congressional District in Illinois. The Deerfield Democrat attended a public exhibition Wednesday at the College of Lake County featuring art from 40 students at 11 district high schools created with the theme of "Character."

Glenbrook North junior Maya Epstein was awarded first place in the competition for her piece titled "Head Above Water." The black-and-white illustration depicts the face of a mostly submerged figure surrounded by darkness.

Epstein's first place entry will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for the coming year alongside more than 430 other winning works from every congressional district in the county. She also received a pair of round-trip tickets to Washington, D.C. to attend the Congressional Art Competition award ceremony later this spring.

As for the runners-up, the second place winner will be displayed at Schneider's Lincolnshire district office, while the third place entry will spend the year on the wall at his office in D.C., according to Schneider's office.

Round Lake Area High School student Angie Morales was awarded second place for her work titled "Calavera," a black-and-white photograph of a face painted in the traditional "sugar skull" style associated with the Day of the Dead holiday.

Waukegan High School student Edgar Bueno was the third place winner. His work "Negative Light" shows a woman wearing a head scarf crying as she paints her face white using a brush with an American flag motif.

The students' submissions were judged anonymously by a trio of professionals in the local arts community, including Waukegan Arts Council Co-Founder Lori Nerheim, Amdur Productions Founder Amy Amdur and College of Lake County Art Professor Bob Lossmann. The judges made their picks without seeing the schools or names of the artists.

Glenbrook North artists have been awarded second place in the competition in each of the past two years. In 2017, Suzanna Creasey's piece "Beat Hearts of Hope" was hung in Schneider's district office. The following year, Rachel Drobetskiy's work "Ethereal" was on display in Lincolnshire, as 55 students from 15 different high schools submitted art with the theme of "dreams" in the 2018 competition.

The Congressional Art Competition was founded in 1982 and is sponsored by the Congressional Institute.

See more: All entries in the art competition from Illinois 10th Congressional District »

Earlier:

• Congressional Art Competition Opens For Area High School Students
  
• Student Winners Of 2018 Congressional Art Competition Announced
• 10th District's 2017 Congressional Art Competition Winners Announced