CREATIVE ARTS CREATIVE ARTS SEMESTER REPORT SEMESTER REPORT
JUNIOR HIGH AND HIGH SCHOOL
Grapevine Faith Christian School’s Creative Arts Department earned top honors at the 2025 TAPPS 5A Art State Championships, clinching the state title.
Grapevine Faith artists entered more artwork than any other school a staggering 100 pieces. Among the standout achievements, junior Savannah Ballard earned two firstplace awards and was named Overall 5A Art Student. In total, four of Faith’s submissions were awarded first place, and more than 30 additional works received recognition in a wide range of categories.
TAPPS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Savannah Ballard, 1st
Overall 5A Art Student
Drawing B/W
Seek & Sketch Color
Tyler Survil, 1st
Color Photo
Shelby Frank, 1st
Senior Art Portfolio
TAPPS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
ND
2 PLACE WINNERS
Verity Croft | Fashion/Textile
Reagan Van Til | Seek and Sketch Color
Owen Payne and Matthew Branco | Short Film-Animation
Aubrey Schaub | Painting
Shelby Frank | 2D Mixed Media
Jacob Survil | Color Photo
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3 PLACE WINNERS
Sophia Fischer | Drawing, B/W and Senior Portfolio
Sarah Cates | Art History
Max Eskolin | Short Film - Animation
Reese Ratcliff, Jack Austin, Dawson
Rhoades, Adeleigh Khan, Dylan
Etheridge-Lambert | Short Film -
Narrative
Jacob Survil
Sophia Fischer
Aubrey Schaub
TAPPS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Savannah Ballard | Computer 4 PLACE WINNERS
Delaney Jordan | Fashion/Textile
Shelby Frank | Art History
5 PLACE WINNERS TH
Claire Monroe | Relief
Sophia Fischer | Seek & Sketch B/W
Savannah Ballard | Computer
Savannah Ballard | Painting
Kennedy Porter | Applied Design
Annie and Spencer Head | Short Film -
Documentary
Savannah Ballard | Printmaking
Brenton Worsley | 2D Mixed
McConnell Gorman | Photo Color
7 AND 8 PLACE WINNERS TH TH
Kinley Combe | Pottery
Sophia Fischer | Drawing Color
Kate Evans | Comm Design
Hannah Smeltzer | Printmaking
Grayson Mustoe | Photo B/W
th
(8 ) Jack Boren | Photo B/W
HONORABLE MENTION
Verity Croft | Relief
Reese Guthrie | Pottery
McConnell Gorman | Senior Portfolio
Grace Chandler | Printmaking
Reagan Van Til | 2D Mixed
STROKES OF SUCCESS: SAVANNAH BALLARD
SWEEPS ART AWARDS
Savannah Ballard prefers sketching, drawing, and experimenting on sticky notes and in old journals— and sometimes, her math worksheets.
Still, she’s one of the most decorated student artists of all time at Grapevine Faith.
This spring, she was named the TAPPS 5A “Overall Art Student” at the Art Championship Competition. The top distinction comes alongside two first-place wins at the TAPPS Championships— one in the “Black and White Drawing” event and another in the “Seek and Sketch Color” event.
She was also recently recognized with a State Gold win at the Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) State Competition. In the annual Southlake Art in the Square Youth Art Competition, she earned 1 and 3 places. st rd
STROKES OF SUCCESS: SAVANNAH BALLARD SWEEPS ART AWARDS
“What led me to success this year was long hours staying up and spending countless hours outside of class to work on my pieces and my skills in general,” Savannah said. “What’s behind every successful piece isn’t just the hours spent on the piece itself- it’s the many failed practice hours before. It takes lots of time ‘getting it wrong ’ in order to ‘get it right’ in art.”
This year, Grapevine Faith artists got it right. The TAPPS 5A State Championship team win was the third team championship win in recent years. Previously, Faith Creative Arts won the top honor in 2016 and 2021.
“This win was all the more important to show that art is not a solo process. In order to be successful, it takes supporters like teachers, friends, and parents to guide and encourage each artist along the way. All of those ‘behind-the-scenes’ people were finally celebrated and awarded for their hard work just as the artists were, ” Savannah said.
ADEN ALEXANDER WINS VASE GOLD SEAL
Sophomore Aden Alexander brought home a VASE Gold Seal, the highest VASE honor only awarded to a select number of pieces. Of 13 Grapevine Faith pieces that advanced to the State VASE competition in April in San Marcos, nine were named State Gold winners.
GOLD SEAL WINNER
ADEN ALEXANDER
SOPHIA FISCHER
VASE AWARDS - STATE GOLD
SAVANNAH BALLARD
THOMAS NORTON
AUBREY SCHAUB
PRESLEIGH WEST
HANNAH SMELTZER
VERITY CROFT
REESE HAMELL
Tatum Ne Grayson Mu
ARTIST AW
Aden Alexander
Elyana Ansley
Ella Armstrong (2)
Savannah Ballard
Bella Bonola
Jack Boren
Grace Chandler
Gisele Demarest
John Duffy
Gabby Flores
Shelby Ann Frank (2)
Maggie Hunt
Connor Marley
Maddy Palmer
Cam Perry
Kennedy Porter
Kylee Sabo
Aubrey Schaub (2)
Hannah Smeltzer
Jordan Slone
Cade Vander Ark
Brenton Worsley (2)
Gabby Flores
Claire Monroe
CELEBRATING ART
More than 50 Grapevine Faith Art and Digital Media students will have their artwork featured in this year ’ s Celebrating Art publication. Celebrating Art annually hosts an online contest and publishes an anthology of selected student artwork.
Stella Anderson, Ella Anderson, Elyana Ansley, Ella Armstrong, Mason
Barnett, JJ Basham, Pippy Bech, Shilah Bech, Bella Bonola, Eleri
Brooks, Charlie Bunch, Lyndsey-Ann Boyd, Aubrey Bowman, Savannah
Ballard, Gisele Demarest, Ainslee Dignan, Zach Fairly, Sophia Fischer, Gabby Flores, Shelby Frank, River Gatlin, Sam Gossman, Manning
Gorman, Josh Harris, Maggie Hunt, Sadie Hunt, Canon Hunter, Alyssa
Labrecque, Walker Little, Connor Marley, Hadley Mahone, Alex
Martinez, Carolina Martinez, Kinley Combe, Carynne Milholland, Francesca Mitrani, Claire Monroe, Tatum Neal, Thomas Norton, Maddy
Palmer, Grant Patton, Alexandria Pearson, Gabby Perez, Whitney
Phillips, Charlie Railsback, Morgan Reynolds, Caleb Robbins, Aubrey
Schaub, Kylee Sabo, Hannah Smeltzer, Reagan Van Til, Cade Vander
Ark, Presleigh West, Brenton Worsley, Paolo Zoota
VAN DUYNE SELECTS SENIOR ARTWORK
TO DISPLAY IN HER OFFICE
Rep. Beth Van Duyne recently selected senior Sophia Fischer’s piece “Ollie” to hang in her office. Van Duyne chose her favorite piece at the Congressional Art Awards in May.
DIGITAL MEDIA STUDENTS EARN HONORS & AWARDS
In addition to recognition from the TAPPS Creative Arts State Competition and VASE, Digital Media students also collected awards in other photo competitions.
TAPPS FALL
PHOTO CONTEST
ADEN ALEXANDER, 1ST
ENVIRONMENAL PORTRAIT
JACK BOREN, 2ND
ENVIROMENTAL PORTRAIT
GRAYSON MUSTOE, 1ST SPORTS ACTION
ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS
PHOTOGRAPHY INSTRUCTORS
STATE MEDIA CONTEST
Kate Evans, 1 (Film) st
Max Eskolin, Honorable Mention
Dawson Rhoades, Francesca Brignole, John Duffy, Honorable Mention
AUBRIE MEDLIN, 2ND LANDSCAPE
JACK BOREN, BLACK AND WHITE
PHOTO
CHOIR PERFORMS AT CARNEGIE HALL
This spring, the voices of Grapevine Faith Christian School’s choir echoed in one of the world’s most iconic venues: Carnegie Hall.
After months of tireless preparation, Faith choir members performed with a 225-member mass choir in New York, led by an internationally renowned choral clinician. The choir performed “Magnificat,” a five-movement masterwork composed by Taylor Scott Davis. Based on Mary’s prayer from the Book of Luke, “Magnificat” is a musical retelling of Mary and Joseph’s emotional and spiritual journey leading to the birth of Christ.
This was Choir Director Patty Martin’s ninth time to take a Faith choir to Carnegie Hall. “It truly has an emotional impact on me every single time to watch my students take that stage where world renowned musicians have performed,” she said. “
SEVEN NAMED TO ALL-STATE CHOIR
After a competitive audition process, seven Advanced Ensemble choir students were chosen for the TPSMEA All State High School Choir. They performed with a mass choir in January at the Eisemann Center in Richardson.
ALL-STATE CHOIR MEMBERS
Bennett Church
Ella DeFeo
Ben Demarest
Tatum Judd
Luke Little
Landry Smith
Abi Wahby
TAPPS SACRED ENSEMBLE AWARD
Superior - 1st Division Honor
Bree Born, Zenee Erb, Jenna Khoury, Aspen Ondrey, Kami Stares, Madison Stewart, Travis Williams
DRUMLINE, BAND BRING HOME HONORS
The GFCS Drumline clinched 2 Place Overall and a 1 Division Rating in the TAPPS 5A Drumline and Band Competition. For the fifth year in a row, the Drumline was also named Best Front Ensemble, and for the first time in school history, the Faith Field Band competed to earn a 1 Division Rating in Field Band Competition.
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SIENNA DUDDING WINS “BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS” IN SCHMIDT AND JONES AWARDS
It was nothing but good news for Junior Sienna Dudding this spring as she won the Schmidt and Jones “Best Supporting Actress” Award for her role in the GFCS production of “Newsies.”
Sienna captivated audiences with her dynamic portrayal of “Medda” in the February production of “Newsies.” She and 10 other Grapevine Faith students were nominated in different categories for the Schmidt and Jones Awards.
The Schmidt and Jones Awards annually recognizes outstanding performances in high school musical theatre in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “Newsies” was also nominated for “Best Show.”
In May, Sienna accepted her award at the Moody Performance Hall in Dallas.
“I’m truly so surprised and honored to win this award. I can’t thank Mr. Scott Werntz enough for giving me this opportunity,” Sienna said of her win. “I’m so incredibly thankful to our cast, crew, and directors. More than anything, I’m beyond grateful to our Lord and Savior, who has guided me through this amazing journey.”
BEST SHOW
MUSICAL THEATER
ALL SCHMIDT AND JONES NOMINATIONS
TAPPS ONE ACT PLAY
3 OVERALL RD
CHLOE BROWN, ALL STAR CAST
KATE WILCOX, ALL STAR CAST
JENSEN ANTHONY, ALL STAR CAST JAVED DREW, HONORABLE MENTION ALL STAR CAST
THESPIAN STATE FESTIVAL NATIONAL QUALIFIER
LUKE MATTHEWS PERFECT SCORE, MAINSTAGE CALLBACK
DANCE - LIONETTES
The Lionettes dance team had an outstanding year, bringing home multiple accolades. At the Crowd Pleasers Dance competition, the high school team shined with a “Best in Class Award” for both Officer Jazz and Team Pom routines. In solo performances, sophomore Ruby Clark earned 3 Runner-Up rd
At the TAPPS Dance Competition, the team earned a “Superior Award” for their technical excellence and performances.
In Junior High Lionettes competition, eighth grader Mavis Clark won 1 place for her solo. st
SPEECH TEAM RUNNER-UP OVERALL IN TAPPS COMPETITION
The GFCS Speech Team earned 2 Overall Speech Team in the TAPPS 5A Speech and Debate State Competition earlier this year, while the Debate team was also recognized in competition. Members of the Speech and Debate Team include: Abbie Toce, Jack Huska, Sophia Belcher, Evan Bohne, Emelia Bishop, Alex Pearson, Olivia Hamilton, Sofia Sanders, Travis Williams, Owen Little, Dawson Rhoades.
ALL WINNERS
Jack Huska, Sophia Belcher, Tie for 1st
Lincoln Douglas Debate
Abbie Toce, 1st
Poetry Interpretation and Prose Interpretation
Jack Huska, 2nd
Persuasive Speaking
Evan Bohne, 3rd
Persuasive Speaking
EIGHTH GRADER WINS PLATINUM IN JUNIOR VASE COMPETITION
Eighth grader Addie Nester’s drawing, “Philippine Sailfin Lizard,” earned a VASE Platinum award. In the Junior Vase Competition, 17 other students earned a Rating of 4 or VASE Gold for their submissions.
GOLD WINNERS: Abigail Allen (2 pieces) | Annie Elder (2) | Kylee Frasier (2) | Allison
Head (2) | Brian Horner | Ellie Marks (2) | Evan Marks (2) | Addie Nester (2) | Annalynn
ADDIE NESTER
Soltwisch | Declan Steckel (2)
“BEST OF SHOW,” Metroplex Art of Christian Schools Competition
ALL METROPLEX ART GOLD WINNERS
Travis Bunch, "Flower of Life"
Emily Cooper, "Hornbill"
Allison Head, "Ellis"
Evan Marks, "Blending In"
Addie Nester, "Philippine SailFin"
Addie Nester, "Mesmerized"
Addie Nester, "Fall Still Life"
Piper Powell, "A Look Into His Heart"
JH CELEBRATING ART ACCEPTED ENTRIES
FALL
Isabella Arbadji
Kate Becker
Jax Bina
*Layla Boyd-Hamp
Riley Brock
Travis Bunch
Mavis Clark
Nora Grace Croft
Keene Duffy
Eli Fortier
Allison Head
Charlotte Jonas
Kaige Little
Alivia Marchetti
Evan Marks
*Addie Nester
Piper Powell
Gabriella Reising
Anna Slone
Jackson Stewart lcox
SPRING
Abigail Allen
Travis Bunch
Emily Cooper
Annie Elder
Kylee Frasier
Allison Head
Evan Marks
Ellie Marks
Addie Nester
Piper Powell
Preslie Prewitt
D l S k l
JUNIOR HIGH SPEECH AND DEBATE
Junior High Lincoln Douglas
Debate Tournament Winners
Austin Browning, 1st
Gabriel Reed, 2nd
Vivian Stoll, 3rd
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