Three Pleasant Valley art students have been awarded high honors and prizes at the Quad City High School Art Invitational.
This exhibition has been hosted annually for the past 42 years, and it typically showcases 15 schools, 28 teachers, and over 170 students. Along with sending student artwork to the exhibition, each school’s art teacher may designate six outstanding student artists to submit their work to a juried competition.
Haleema Waheed, Siobhan Morley, Ash McDowell, Erin Balzer, Kyle Knedler, Abby Olderog, Max O’Brien, Lola Johannsen, Libby Staver, and Ana Silva-Laguna were all chosen to be featured at the exhibition along with the three winners: Sophie Curtis, Jei Valle-Riestra, and Odin McDonald.
At the invitational, artists competed for $3000 in scholarships and prizes. These funds were largely provided by The William Butterworth Foundation, and other sponsors included Evergreen Art Works, Living Lands and Waters, the Left Bank Art League, and The Rock Island Art Guild. Local artists also provided funds for artwork in their respective areas of expertise.
The exhibit took place from March 29 to May 2, with an awards presentation held on April 4. This was the presentation where the three PV students were recognized and honored for their artwork. Jei Valle-Riestra won the Don Heggen Memorial Excellence in Watercolor Award [$50 award], Odin McDonald won the Excellence in Photography Award [$50 award], and Sophie Curtis won the great honor of being Best in Show [$500 and a canvas portfolio for her work].
Valle-Riestra’s piece was the first watercolor painting she had ever created. It captured someone’s feet as they ran up a staircase, with greenery in the background. Valle-Riestra thoroughly enjoyed her first experience with watercolor painting. “I really love doing scenes with a lot of greens and flowers,” she said. “Most of my scenes feature a person as the subject, and I wanted to try something a little different in this one, with the person as more of a side note.”
In addition to painting, Valle-Riestra occupies herself with sketching and participating in the drama department. She has performed in shows but prefers working in the costumes department; Valle-Riestra has been costume head for five shows and designed costumes for three of those shows. She plans to attend the Pacific Northwest College of Arts in hopes of launching a career in animation.
Odin McDonald’s picture features PV alumna Olivia Peters posing under a bridge, with graffiti visible in the background. Since the bridge did not actually have any graffiti, McDonald used photoshop to create a spray paint effect, making his fictional graffiti seem as realistic as possible.
In general, McDonald loves incorporating surrealism into his photography. “My ideas are usually a little wacky,” he said. “Whether they have to do with lighting, subject, or just what I use, they pull my audience into looking at different aspects of the picture.” Aside from photography, McDonald is also heavily involved in drama, through improv, sound, lights, set, props, and acting.
The oil painting Curtis made began with what she simply thought was a neat idea. Curtis gets her inspiration for these paintings from personal experiences, songs, books, friends, and in this case, nature. In her work, she depicted a single rose melting on a black background. Curtis either starts her paintings by creating a sketch or just going right in with a thin base layer before continuing on to finish the work, with this particular painting taking two weeks to complete.
Curtis joined AP Art this spring semester– the first art class she has been able to take since junior high. “I started taking art seriously last year,” Curtis said. “However, I’ve been doing art here and there my entire life.” Aside from painting, Curtis is also involved in track, cross country, and the QC Youth Symphony Orchestra.
The Pleasant Valley community is proud of their high achieving art students. With their dedication, these aspiring artists are sure to create many more masterpieces for the community to enjoy and look forward to.
