Polytech Student Places Third in Courtroom Artist Contest

Melissa Bostjancic, of Asbury, captured third place in the 2021 New Jersey State Bar Foundation Courtroom Artist Contest. A second-year student in the Commercial Arts & Advertising Design program at Hunterdon County Polytech Career & Technical High School, Bostjancic impressed judges with her ability to capture a courtroom scene despite the proceedings happening over Zoom. This format gave her just fleeting moments to study participants’ physical traits and emotions to accurately depict the virtual courtroom in her sketch.

“Normally, you'd be in a courtroom, where you could use the environment for help in understanding who is acting in which role,” explained Polytech instructor Teresa Diaz. “But, this year, everyone was in a box. It was hard telling at first glance which team or side someone was on, so that made storytelling through the art much more challenging.”

Diaz said Bostjancic’s work stood out, because her love of drawing people came through in her work; she was already skilled at capturing expressions on people’s faces.

"I formed an expression based on what they were saying and the context of the case," explained Bostjancic of how she drew the trial participants. She made the artistic choice to “make minimalistic boxes so you wouldn't be too distracted by their backgrounds, but instead focus on their faces and expressions."

Bostjancic said experiences such as this, in addition to Polytech's Bridging the Gap program that supports students in launching their own design businesses to serve area clients, has helped her explore career interests and decide to pursue a career path in graphic design and illustration.

The Courtroom Artist Contest coincided with mock trial competitions, during which high school teams participated in rehearsed trials to learn more about the legal system in a competitive format, with real-life judges presiding over the cases.

Last year was the first time Polytech students participated in the contest, with then-senior Molly Parsons placing second.

To learn more about design programs at Hunterdon County Polytech, visit https://polytech.hcvsd.org/.

Hunterdon County Polytech Career & Technical High School is the largest component of Hunterdon County Vocational School District (HCVSD). Polytech (polytech.hcvsd.org) is the district’s shared-time high school that prepares students for a seamless transition to college and career paths. HCVSD also operates an Adult & Continuing Education division and three science-based academies. Learn more at www.hcvsd.org.

All pupils will be given equal opportunity for enrollment in programs operated by the Hunterdon County Vocational School District regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender, religion, disability, or socioeconomic status (34 C.F.R. Part 100, Appendix B, Section IV-A). No qualified handicapped person shall, on the basis of handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity which receives federal financial assistance, et seq (34 C.F.R. Part 104.4(a)(b).