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THE FOOTHILLS FOCUS | THEFOOTHILLSFOCUS.COM | JULY 14, 2021
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Boulder Creek student wins Congressional Art Competition BY ANNIKA TOMLIN Foothills Focus Staff Writer
A
rtwork by an 11th-grade student at Boulder Creek High School will adorn the U.S. Capitol for a year after she won the Congressional Art Competition. Brooke Wells’ graphite piece “Arizona Re�lections” was a top-three winner in Rep. Debbie Lesko’s District 8. Every spring since 1982, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition that showcases the artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. “I am so pleased to recognize these talented young artists in our community,”
Lesko said in a statement. “I am proud to congratulate this year’s Congressional Art Competition winner and thank everyone who participated in the competition. I was very impressed with the incredible artistic talent each person displayed this year.” Besides Wells, the top three is rounded out with Glendale’s Dang “Danny” Le, whose oil painting, “Oversaturated,” will grace Lesko’s Washington, D.C., of�ice for one year; and Eliseo Miguel of Surprise with his Prismacolor pencil drawing, “Dreamer.” It will hang in Lesko’s Surprise District of�ice for one year. The winning artwork will hang in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol where members of Congress, distinguished vis-
itors and tens of thousands of tourists walk between the House of Representatives and the Capitol daily. Each district’s picture will be hung and labeled with the name of the artist, the title of the work and the congressional district. The artwork will be organized alphabetically by state and then numerically by district. High school students submitted entries to Lesko’s of�ice and were judged by two members of WHAM Art Association including founder and executive director, Connie Whitlock. “This is the third year that I’ve helped Debbie Lesko’s organization with the Congressional Art Competition,” Whitlock said. WHAM is a nonpro�it that brings the
arts to people of all ages, abilities and economic status in the West Valley. When Wells’ art teacher Jason Lohmeier told her about the Congressional Art Competition last year, she knew then that she wanted to create a piece for the contest. After COVID-19 stopped her plans last year, she went head on when creating her piece this year. “I decided I wanted to make a piece speci�ically for (the competition) because my art pieces in the past have been really big and there is a size requirement,” said Wells, an incoming senior. “I decided to do a photoshoot with my sister (Jessica) and I put everything to-
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