The talented young artists of Bridgeport High School have their work on display in the Ohio Valley Mall’s central court and will be featured through Sunday March 30 alongside with the best artwork of Belmont County’s school districts.
Art teacher Mindy Sears was proud as she pinned the first through fifth place ribbons for the Teachers’ Choice on her students’ best pieces and arranged them during Belmont County Schools’ Celebration of the Arts.
She hopes students and their families will turn out to take a look in the coming days and cast their votes for the Peoples’ Choice award.
Art teachers from every school district in Belmont County vote on the top five winners from each school. Teachers do not vote on their own schools’ entries.
“They decide who wins from my school and it all gets tallied up together,” she said. “Figure out who the top 21 are in the whole county.”
Sears then gave five merit awards to the Bridgeport high schoolers’ best artwork.
Finally, the public is invited to vote on the Peoples’ Choice, to be awarded Saturday March 29.
“People in the community can come out and show support for their favorite piece of artwork throughout the county,” she said. “I’ve encouraged kids to come check out their artwork and invite their families to come vote on the Peoples’ Choice award.”
She thanked the mall for providing space.
Sears said 19 of her students entered art. Some entered several pieces. They include ninth graders through seniors. She said it has been amazing to work with the upperclassmen and see them stretch their wings as they honed their talent. She also looks forward to nurturing the newest generation of budding artists.
“These kids have worked months. This is great to be able to showcase them,” she said. “I can’t wait to see who they’re going to be as they become adults. It’s been fun to watch their journey as they learn and grow, but some of them are just ninth graders and coming into high school with these amazing talents.”
She said one rewarding part of teaching is seeing her students’ reactions when they “make the connection” and put the techniques she taught into practice in a variety of mediums. Sears said many of her students put in extra effort outside of class.
“I really like when they ask for help and I’m able to sit down and help the kids feel successful by the end of their project,” she said. “They’ve been able to achieve what they wanted to do.”
Bridgeport High’s Teachers’ Choice winners included Gracie Mercer, who took first place with her acrylic painting “August Drive,” depicting a car during the end of summer.
Alexis Skukan won second place for her watercolor “Jack,” of a friend’s puppy. She also won third place for “Hanging out,” a scratchboard representation of a hanging bat.
Amber Polomik won fourth place with her acrylic painting “Golden Grove: A Honey Mushroom.”
Ike Sears won fifth place for his monoprint of the First English Lutheran Church in Wheeling.
Sears said each piece represents something significant to the student.
“Most of these students are experienced students who’ve been in my class a few years now,” she said. They’ve definitely grown as artists and it’s been a lot of fun to watch them grow and apply their skills.”
Bridgeport’s merit awardees were Patricia Hall for her acrylic painting of lilies “In Bloom,” Lydia McConnaughy’s graphite drawing of a skull, “Cycle’s End,” McKayla Plants’ acrylic painting of a car with lilies, “Patience,” Kameryn Santini’s ceramic vase, “Rosey Bloom” and Aubrey Black’s scratch board “Skull.”
Sears’ student teacher, Briston Ramby, studying Art Education at West Liberty University, was impressed by the Bulldogs school culture.
“This has been wonderful, seeing all their different skill and varieties and seeing how they’ve improved over the year. The really do get a lot of support.”
Lainey Brandon of Clarington was among members of the public who stopped by.
“There’s some really, really good stuff here,” she said of the Bridgeport artwork. “They’re really talented.”
People can vote on the Peoples’ Choice in the mall center court.
