Ten Annandale High School art students were selected to represent their school at the Minnesota State High School League Region 5A Arts Festival at New London-Spicer on Wednesday, April 16. Most students received an excellent or superior rating and Jake Nelson, a junior, earned Best of Show in his category, Multiple Image Process, out of 29 entries. Jake took a digital picture of a flower, then added effects using a computer photo program for his entry. “I had no idea at the time,” he said. “It just kind of evolved into this. I saw it and was happy with it.” Senior Luke Farness had a similar idea. He composed a picture made up of 15 different, smaller pictures. The subject was a friend in the basement of his home. In each frame he is seen doing something different. Sufka used film and the darkroom to create the multi image effect. Charlie Olmscheid submitted a self-portrait for the mixed medium category. She used the pointilism technique for her portrait and added torn up pieces of paper and canvas to represent her love of painting and writing. “What’s unique about her piece is the way she incorporated different kinds of material,” said art teacher Cathie Wemlinger. Judging for the festival was based on composition, craftsmanship, process and problem-solving, expressive qualities and artists’ statements, she said. Luke Sufka also created a self-portrait using paint on canvas. “I used a lot of earth tones because no one ever works with them,” he said. “I used flat colors and didn’t blend at all. It turned out nice.” This was Sufka’s first year at the festival. “It was fun to see other people our age doing work as good as ours or better,” he said. According to Wemlinger, competition in New London-Spicer was fierce. There were five categories for junior artists to submit work in and Wemlinger estimated there were 160 entries in all. Jesse Barrett, a junior at Annandale, submitted a pencil drawing of a mannequin in three different poses. Barrett, who had never heard of the festival before, was surprised but excited to be chosen. Dani Dingman, a sophomore, submitted a clay sculpture of a geometric flower. “I like flowers and the simplicity of geometric shapes so I decided to put them together,” she said. She put on the finishing touches with glaze and paint. Michell Fischer, a sophomore, made a chalk drawing of a person with his face and hands smashed up against a window. She got the idea from a friend’s photograph. Andrea Hanson and Don Nelson were also at the arts festival. “It’s really beneficial for students to go to this to see the work of others and to see their work on display,” said Wemlinger. “It was really tough to decide who would go,” she added. “The competition here at Annandale is very high. Many people could have gone. It is amazing how much talent we have here.”
