Masuk Free Press

On Monday, March 23rd, five Masuk students were recognized for their accomplishments in The Alliance For Young Artists & Writers Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Every year, the contest is hosted, and students can win different awards, depending on the judges’ verdict. The top award is a golden key, then a second-place silver key, followed by an honorable mention. At the beginning of a Board of Education meeting, students were introduced by Masuk’s Principal Stephen Swensen and gave a brief description about their work before taking a picture with the board of education staff. 

Amongst the students awarded were Ari Ashe, Penelope Field, and Christian Kloter, who were given honorable mentions for their work. Meanwhile, Aiden Cronk and Ace Mert were awarded with silver keys. 

For junior Ari Ashe, this was an incredible moment as it was his first award in his art career.

            “I don’t really understand the magnanimity of it all, but it’s nice,” he said. “It’s nice to know that my art is recognized and it’s deemed to be good at some level.” Ashe’s work, Sesenance, was a still life of various objects. “I thought that the stuff that was laid out for me was fantastic. I really liked the rubber ducky. It made me very happy.”
Penelope Field, also a junior, received her first award as well. 

            “I feel very proud of myself, in a way. It makes me feel good that my art is regarded as something that people like and is just worthy of that kind of award. It does make me very motivated to keep on pursuing my art.” she said. Field used charcoal to create a self-portrait. 

Finally, for junior Aiden Cronk, it was his second award of his Masuk art career. His first work submitted for the competition won an honorable mention last year.

             “I want to keep winning stuff, because I want to be the best artist ever.”  Cronk’s work “I Hate This Song Part 2,”was based on a song he wrote on Bandlab, the illustrious “I Hate This Song Part 1”. 

            “You know, you want to be the best at whatever you do,”  says Cronk.” I want to be the best ever.”

For the Masuk art program overall, this has been another successful year. Last year, the it took home four awards, three silver keys and one honorable mention, and this continued success occurred despite challenges the artists faced during the creative process.

             “During the time I had this assignment, Mrs. Gagnon was actually out for about two weeks.” said Field.  “I was out in the cafeteria, working on it relentlessly. It was a good challenge to try and encapsulate my likeness.” 

As for Ashe, the materials used and the time crunch were his greatest struggles.             

               “So, it was originally supposed to be watercolor, but that did not turn out well. It looked very muddy,” he said. “I had a pen, that made it slightly better, and then, for the final 30 minutes before the assignment, I just started tossing random things.” Interestingly, the crunch was an aspect that Ashe  enjoyed most out of the process. “I did the bulk of the bodying at the start, and then, at the last few minutes, giving in to that [feeling] of, oh yeah, I got this done, getting it really loose.”

Cronk struggled a bit with the specific aspects of his piece.

“I had sketches before this where I kept messing with it ” he said.     “At first, it was like, an assortment of different musical instruments, but then I thought I wanted to elaborate on the record player. That’s pretty much the whole process, though. From there, I knew it.” 

Finally, it should be mentioned that there were some aspects that the artists felt they wanted to do with their pieces, but never quite got to do. 

                “I think, in retrospect, I would have wanted to do something that captures my own creative and personal endeavors, ” says Field. “Next time I apply for this, I might do something more geared towards my personal endeavors.”

As the students continue along their art journey, the awards here serve to highlight their hard work , and make sure that the talent of these students will not go unnoticed. Anyone who wishes to view the pieces can go into the Masuk library, where they are currently on display.