On Thursday, April 13th, 2023, a few art students from Lonoke High School traveled to Hot Springs, AR to compete in the Arkansas Young Artist Association 2023 Art Competition. Eleven students were able to showcase their art and create more in onsite competitions throughout the day. The students were Maleah Behrens, 12, Kiarra Reyes, 12, Rylee Osborne, 12, Joshua Williams, 11, Josie Curtis, 11, Morgan Carlock, 11, Lena Querdo, 11, Claire Woods, 10, Skyli Clark, 9, Olivia Roberts, 9, and Courtney Platt, 9.

Mrs. Maund, the LHS Art Teacher, and Mrs. Roberts, the Envision Science Teacher, went with the students to help them put their art in the correct categories and support their talent. “It was a wonderful opportunity for our art students to exhibit their work to art students across Arkansas,” Mrs. Maund declared. “I am so proud that we had two receive an award on our first trip. All of my students work so hard all year round,” she added.

Out of the approximate 400 students or more that were entered into the AYAA Art Competition, Lonoke entered a small amount of eleven. Despite these small numbers, LHS gained two winners in different categories.

Junior Joshua Williams won an onsite competition where he had an hour to draw from a prompt in the charcoal conte category. He drew mountains and a beautiful castle that earned him third place. Josh said that winning made him feel good but he was shy about walking across a stage to accept his award. “I didn’t like getting up in front of people but I liked getting the plaque,” Josh mentioned.

Freshman Courtney Platt won third place in the charcoal conte category with her detailed artwork of a hairless cat that she created. She felt confused originally when she won because “Lena and I both entered artworks of hairless cats and when they called for a hairless cat as a winner, we both thought it was ours.”

“The competition was so fun and the artwork there was stunning! I’m so glad that I got the opportunity to attend,” Senior Maleah Behrens exclaimed.