And the winner is... This week, I held a reception for the winners of the 2022 Congressional Art Competition. Each year I host a district-wide student art competition for grades 9 through 12. The Congressional Institute sponsors the Congressional Art Competition, a nationwide high school visual arts competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent across our nation. Since the competition began in 1982, more than 700,000 high school students have participated, and this is my 11th year hosting.  The Best in Show winner‘s artwork will be displayed in Washington, D.C. in the Cannon House Office Building tunnel as a part of the national display with winners from every congressional district across the country. The winner also receives two roundtrip Southwest Airlines vouchers to attend the Congressional Art winners reception in Washington, D.C. This year’s Best in Show winner is Rachel Howald’s drawing titled “Anxious.” Rachel is a senior at Mountain Home High School under the art instruction of Beth Ivens. “Anxious” also won the People’s Choice Award, which is voted on by the public on social media.

The following were chosen as the first-place winners from the individual medium categories: Collage: Leila Seagraves, Highland High School Digital: Mackenzie O’Neal, The Academies at Jonesboro High Drawing: Rachel Howald, Mountain Home High School Mixed Media: Michelle Flowers, Highland High School Painting: Sara Tuetken, Brookland High School Photography: Laura Amorim, Valley View High School Print: Josalyn Pritchett, Cedar Ridge High School Almost 200 artwork submissions representing 20 schools in the First Congressional district were submitted for this year’s competition. The judges of the competition were Jayson Mirafuentes and David Mason, both of Jonesboro. You will be able to view all my first-place winners’ artwork at the Recovery Room on Main Street in downtown Jonesboro during the month of June.   I want to thank everyone for participating in the 2022 Congressional Art Competition. As always, the entries were outstanding, and I am proud to have so many talented students in the First Congressional District. Congratulations to Rachel Howland on winning this year’s Best in Show. I look forward to seeing Rachel’s drawing in the U.S. Capitol!

No votes this week. The House will be in session on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

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