Congressional Art Competition

"Annotators Gonna' Annotate" by Batavia High School student Lucy Miller was chosen as the winning work.

For a second year, Water Street Studios had the pleasure of working with the office of the Illinois 14th Congressional District on "An Artistic Discovery: The Congressional Art Competition." High school students from across the country are asked to submit two-dimensional works to their congressional office. "With the cooperation of Congressman Hultgren's office, the pieces from our district will be juried by a panel of Water Street Studios resident artists." said Kari Kraus, Director of Education at Water Street Studios, and member of the jury. "What is very exciting is that the winning piece will travel to Washington DC to be on display for a year in the Capital Building." Additional members of the jury included Water Street Studios resident artists Steven Lockwood, Chris Hodge, Carol Lynn McNally and Rita Grendze.

Artwork from the Illinois 14th District were displayed the weekend of April 29th in the Water Street Studios Second Floor Gallery. As always, at Water Street Studios, admission was free to all. A closing reception was held for the students and their parents with Congressman Randy Hultgren on Friday, May 6, 2011.

"This is always an exciting event for us." said Jim Kirkhoff, Director of Development for Water Street Studios. "A main element of our mission is to develop the talent of students. This year we are taking it a step further by placing all of the pieces in a formal show setting."