This past December, the Poly Prep community hosted its 2nd annual Visual Arts Competition, where Middle and Upper School students entered their best works of art to a panel of judges. The goal of this competition was to build exposure for the Visual Arts at Poly and give artistically talented students the opportunity to shine. 

Wang judged the competition last April and took over as director when the former leader Tasha Fonstein ’22 graduated. According to Senior and competition director Leo Wang ’23, the point of the Visual Arts Contest is to motivate students to create art. Seventh grade winners Anisah Rahman and Lila Suter-Chung shared excitement about their experience participating in the competition, with Rahman writing in an email, “It feels really cool to have won, especially because I did the project with Lila.”

When evaluating the art, the judges prioritized putting their personal preference of varying art styles aside. “Art is subjective and different people have different taste,” said Wang. In order to achieve an equitable result, the judges compiled the strongest works of art into a Google Doc that was sent to a wide variety of members in the Poly community. This range of different perspectives included Poly’s Advanced Portfolio Class, faculty members, a writer, and a musician. Finally, after Wang took a poll of the judges’ favorites, an email was sent out announcing the winners.

Junior Jordan Millar, who was awarded first place in the Upper School, submitted one of her works made in Advanced Drawing and Painting Portfolio. “I was really surprised when I got the email,” said Millar. “I was really proud of my piece, but I was really shocked to see that it placed in first.”

Ultimately, the Visual Arts Contest is another way for students at Poly to uplift each other and celebrate the impressive artwork students create on campus. “This is a very meaningful process in terms of encouraging the spirit in our community,” said Wang.

The Visual Arts Contest will return again in the spring. Keep an eye out for more information regarding entry to the 3rd competition.