Titans claim top Art honors -TCU hosts Section Art Festival
Titan artists (left to right) Pax Meyer, Mikayla Marek, Rachael Paggen, Gaby Dahlke, and Nalia Wagner each received the Art Festival’s prestigious Spotlight on the Arts Award, the top honor given at the MSHSL Section contest. (Lisa Ingebrand photo)
Titan artists captured five of the 12 top honors awarded at the Section 2A North Art Festival, which was hosted by Tri-City United High School last week.
The Minnesota State High School League event brought together the top student artists from TCU, Belle Plaine, Le Sueur-Henderson, Nicollet, and Sibley East High Schools.
It was the first time TCU hosted the festival, which featured 65 pieces of artwork created by 50+ student artists. Eighteen of the pieces were Titan-made.
A panel of six judges reviewed and rated each piece of art based on composition, craftsmanship, process and problem solving, and expressive qualities. The display then opened for public viewing on Tuesday night, April 12, in the TCU gym. “I was very pleased with the number of people that came to view the show Tuesday evening,” stated TCU High School Art Educator Tony Barnack. “The gym was never empty and we did have families from other towns come to see the show as well.”
A student art festival, including mini classes led by local topiary artist Meghan Petricka and letterpress artist Craig Kotasek, and an awards ceremony were held for all the participating student artists on Wednesday, April 14.
Barnack and fellow TCU High School Art Educator Bethany Thalman announced and presented the awards.
The Titans recorded 13 Superior ratings and 4 Excellent ratings.
Excellent ratings were awarded to: Janik Wagner (drawing ‘Lexus LFA”), Alexa Triden (painting “The Violin”), Drew Murphy (sculpture “Marauder’s Rest”), and Marco Reyes (ceramics “Inner Peace).
Superior ratings were awarded to: Pax Meyer (drawing “Artificial Order” and painting “Dysphoria”), Sydney Whiteis (drawing “Medea and Psyche”), Gaby Dahlke (drawing “Warped”), Nalia Wagner (drawing “Odd Form”), Anna Barnett (painting “A Sight of Summer”), Mikayla Marek (painting “Hello?”), Danessa Buckingham (painting “Maci Jean”), Rachael Paggen (sculpture “Abstract Bubble Pot” and ceramics “Mother Nature”), Bailey Witte (sculpture “Chaos”), Marco Reyes (sculpture “Clay Bot 3000”), and Edward Devine (ceramics “The Amphora”).
Megan Marek (drawing “My Puppy”) was the only TCU freshman in the contest.
Five TCU artists earned the festival’s top honor, the elite...
To see more on this story pick up the April 21, 2022 print edition of the Montgomery Messenger.
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