Colleen, daughter of Norbert and Kathryn Ryterski of Pinckneyville, first submitted the piece to fulfill an assignment for teacher Mary Jane Field’s art class. The sculpture then was submitted to the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts at Mitchell Museum in Mt. Vernon; one of 96 regional sites for the scholastic competition.
From among the hundreds of art pieces submitted by students all across the southern Illinois area to Cedarhurst, Colleen earned the top honor of Gold Key, and then learned her sculpture had been judged Best of Show and would progress to the national level.
On the national scale, the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers honors only 500 entries Gold Medal status and another 100 earn American Vision “Best in Region” Awards for recognition at the June ceremony at Carnegie Hall for all categories in the Art and Writing competition. The honored pieces become a part of the National Exhibition at the World Financial Center in New York and are also displayed at New York Art Galleries.
The student artists are also considered for scholarships at various Art Institutes across the country
“This is an incredible honor,” Field said. “I can’t remember a PCHS student’s work being recognized at this level.”
Approximately 165,000 works were submitted to the 87th annual Scholastic Art and Writing competition; 11,000 earned Gold Key Awards, and the Gold Medal, American Vision and Silver Medal Awards represent the top 1 percent of all art and writing works submitted nationwide..
The initial classroom assignment was based on the work of artist Alexander Calder, famous for mobiles and sculpture.
Colleen indicated that her friend and classmate Felicia Brand who wears braces was the inspiration for the sculpture’s title.
Colleen also recounted numerous finger-stabbings and hours adding up to full days and maybe weeks to complete the assignment that she interpreted with some “12 zillion” glass beads and “7 zillion” centimeters of wire.
“Felicia” (the sculpture, not the friend) is being packed up this week for her trip to New York, Colleen with three family members and one art teacher may join “Felicia” to go to the Carnegie Hall Awards ceremony in June. In the program for the recently completed PCHS musical, Colleen wrote that she wants to “pursue a career in making the world a better place.” Considering the honor of this national award and adding beauty to the world through her art, Colleen is well on her way to achieving her goal.
