Olympia High artists win congressional competition

Two Olympia High School students are celebrating big wins in this year’s Congressional Art Competition. Leah Chen won the grand-prize first-award for a portrait of her great-great-grandmother, and Madison Benedict won Best in Show in Drawing for her colorful depiction of blueberries, blackberries and strawberries.

For winning the grand prize, Chen and her family will travel to Washington, D.C., this summer for a national reception and the chance to see her artwork on display in the United States Capitol for one year. Congressional Institute sponsors the trip.

Benedict’s Best in Show artwork will be on display in the offices of Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost. The congressman chose the art theme, “Leading with Creativity,” for this year’s competition.

Chen and Benedict are students of Joanna Levine of Olympia’s Visual Arts Department. Both are taking the Advanced Placement Drawing Studio Arts course.

“Leah and Madison are dedicated, creative and talented artists,” Levine said.

LIFELONG PURSUIT

Chen has been drawing since she was 6, and she’s excited to know all her hard work has led to this winning moment.

“I have to thank all the people who have been with me all the way,” she said. “Definitely my mom; she’s been the one who ‘s always been supporting me and my love for art.”

Chen used Prismacolor colored pencils to create her winning artwork she named Breakthrough, which depicts an elderly Chinese woman threading a needle.

“It’s my great-great-grandmother,” Chen said. “I remember me visiting her back in China when I was young, and everything she did was just so diligent, and she was always so careful with everything she did, and I felt like she would nurture me. That moment in time, I had such a vivid memory of it. I just felt that every time I’m going through a hardship or something’s going wrong … I remember that moment.

“I named it that because in that moment in particular, I thought it really resembled her patience with everything. The moment where the thread is going through the needle, it’s very hard to do, and considering her old age I just remember that, ‘Wow, she can really do this.’ She was always so patient with everything.”

While in D.C., Chen will take part in a ceremony celebrating all the district winners. She said it will be surreal to see her art hanging in the Capitol.

“I’m very very excited for that,” she said.,

Chen has won other art awards as well, including the Scholastic Keys Award, taking home four gold keys and four silver for eight pieces of art she submitted.

The rising sophomore isn’t sure what she wants to study in college, but she knows art will be an important part of her life.

“I do find art relaxing and easy on the mind,” Chen said. “When I’m going through stress, I find art very relaxing. It’s good to have it on the side. I plan to explore different mediums. I find that I’ve been using colored pencils for a very long time.

She recently took a trip to London and had the chance to explore several museums. She said the big canvases and large paintings have inspired her to explore different mediums.

“One thing that helps when I’m drawing is immersing my mind in the drawing,” Chen said. “It helps me to live in that drawing. What you’re doing is making a true connection to that art.”

IT’S ALL CONNECTED

Benedict said she was shocked to learn she won Best in Show in the Drawing category.

“To win it in my junior year — I felt very proud of myself,” she said.

Of the 50 pieces of art submitted, she said, there were about 10 finalists in different categories. Her drawing was a colored-pencil piece depicting blueberries, strawberries and blackberries, which she called Assorted Berries. She also used the Prismacolor pencils.

“I took the AP drawing class this year, and you have to pick a theme, so I picked nature and how all living things connect,” Benedict said. “My first was a rabbit, and for the next one I thought, ‘What do rabbits eat?’ and I thought, ‘Berries.’

Benedict also takes a ceramics class, and next year she’s taking AP 3D and AP 2D art classes. This is her first artistic win.

Following graduation, she expects to pursue a career in the arts.

“I really like designing, and I’m either thinking of continuing into ceramics or possibly interior design, maybe murals or something like that,” Benedict said. “I’m looking at doing some college tours this summer. … I want to look at schools that are focused on art.”

TITANIC INFLUENCE

Chen and Benedict credit Levine for her role in shaping them as artists.

“She’s definitely a great, great teacher,” Chen said. “She always makes sure that every student is on top of the curriculum and work because AP art has you submit 15 total pieces by the end of the year. … She’s also good at motivating students in different ways.

“I love her because she’s the reason I got this award, and I feel so grateful for that,” she said.

Benedict feels the same.

“Joanna Levine is very encouraging, and she helped me get where I’ve been able to draw currently,” she said. “She’s very helpful.”

Levine has been a visual arts teacher for 23 years, nine of them at Olympia. Chen’s win is a first for Levine at Olympia.

Art plays an important role in education, she said.

“Visual arts encourage students to think creatively, develop their imagination, enhance critical thinking and build their confidence,” she said.