Pieces from five Revere students have passed regional judgment and won state-level awards for their excellence at the Ohio Governor’s Youth Art Exhibition.

Juniors Alexa Shin, Camille Volk, and Hannah Weisburn and seniors McKenna Becker and Alexa Farist had their works chosen out of over 11,000 entries for exhibition in Columbus at the Ohio Governor’s Youth Art Exhibition (Governor’s Show). Photography teacher Paulette Colantone, who helped students submit works and plans to attend the show in Columbus, described the show.

“Governor’s Show is a statewide competition for all the schools in the state to compete to be picked for an exhibit. Student work gets chosen. They pick 300 pieces, and they also pick about 85-100 more to be placed in the governor’s office and the state education office…. It is an enormous honor,” Colantone said.

Junior Camille Volk had three of her works chosen, the most out of any student at Revere this year. She talked about what the show means to her and the artwork she entered.

“[Governor’s Show] receives around 11,500 works each year and chooses 300 to receive the Governor’s Award of Excellence. The show offers scholarships and aims to encourage artistic creativity throughout the state. This is the first time I have entered works in the Governor’s show. I entered five works–four colored pencil and one in pen. Three of the color pencil renderings, Golden Touch, Water Bottles, and Pumpkins, were chosen to go to Columbus,” Volk said.

Senior Alexa Farist entered work for her second year. This year judges chose her ceramic piece Hello? to head to Columbus. She described the inspiration behind the work and how the affirmation of art awards made her more confident.

“Hello? is the piece that placed in the top 300, and it symbolizes forced conformity in American society. The phone on his head represents the voices you hear and the things you are told. It is choking him because he feels trapped or controlled by it. The puzzle symbolizes how our culture expects people to act, look, think; if you do not fit perfectly into their little squares then you cannot be ‘successful’. He has chicken feet because he does not have any true identity. He is weak and unstable, a ‘chicken’ so to speak. He is easily my most symbolic work yet,” Farist said.

Volk discussed what inspires her to draw as well. Her works often feature dramatic shadows and vivid colors.

“I love watching the works come to life as I draw them. I pay close attention to detail and try to replicate the drama with lights, darks, and color within the pieces,” Volk said.

Farist also discussed her plans for higher education and how she hopes art will factor into it.

“I plan to go get a BFA with ceramics as my focus. I would also like to thank Mr. Pierson and Mrs. Fox; they have taught me everything I know,” Farist said.

Colantone has posted the list of all the Ohio winners on the bulletin board outside her room, as well as details on the Governor’s Show. The works of Revere winners were on display in the library, and the complete list of regional winners and their works were posted outside.