Four Bend-La Pine students’ artwork receive top honors

Four Bend-La Pine Schools art students have earned the top honors in the local Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a national competition that showcases the best work from young artists and writers.

The students’ artwork will be featured alongside more than 300 other pieces of award-winning student art at the Pinckney Gallery at Central Oregon Community College Feb. 6 to 24.

Summit High School students Shane Ragland (painting), Megan L’Etoile (sculpture) and Ruby Dolezal (mixed media) and Mountain View High School student Hailey Kavanagh (fashion) earned American Vision nominations (the equivalent of Best in Show honors). Both Ragland and Kavanagh were invited to attend the national award ceremony at Carnegie Hall last year.

Community members are invited to view all of the award-winning artwork, which include 73 Gold Key winners, 67 Silver Key winners and 105 Honorable Mentions. Judges selected these pieces out of nearly 800 submissions by local art students. A ceremony honoring all of the artists will take place Feb. 6 from 1 to 2 p.m. at Pinckney Auditorium and will include a presentation by local musician and poet Jason Graham, the awarding of scholarships and reflections from Ragland, a two-time winner who attended the national ceremony last year.

Pilot Butte Middle School art teacher Pat Roberts organizes the Central Oregon Scholastic Art Awards along with Susan Shayegi from Redmond High School. Roberts says the judges evaluate the art on originality, technique and personal vision.

“It’s artwork that has a story. You stand in front of it and you’re pulled in,” said Roberts. She encourages the public to visit the gallery to see the talent of local students. “Every year people are amazed at the quality of the artwork coming out of Central Oregon middle and high schools.”

Roberts thanked the participating teachers who gave students the opportunity to be recognized through the competition. The awards are open to students in grades 7-12 from schools throughout the region. Categories include ceramics, painting, digital art, fashion, photography, writing, poetry and more.

The Pinckney Gallery is located at Pence Hall at Central Oregon Community College. The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Contact: 541-383-7511.