Scholarships, awards announced for MCC Paint-In

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Maywood High School art students during the early stages of creating their submission. (Brent Cobb/McCook Community College)

McCOOK, Neb. -- More than 250 area art students took part in the annual paint-in and art exhibition at McCook Community College Friday afternoon. The event provides a unique opportunity for high school art students to work as a team during the creation of an impromptu piece of art, which is critiqued immediately upon completion and potentially honored by event judges. It also serves as a valuable recruiting tool for the college art department and opportunity to award scholarships to many of the most talented area art students.

The 2015 Paint-In theme, "What does the song look like?" tasked students with painting their visual interpretation of the song "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons. Students were asked to create artwork that had a visual impact on the viewer and intended to educate them on the audio message of the topic, a practice known as visual literacy or the didactic function of art.

MCC graduate Alicia Vandenbark Blankenship judged both the paint-in and the art exhibition and was on hand Friday to help present awards and offer her take on some of the artwork.

Students from 19 Nebraska high school art programs participated in the 2015 Paint-In at McCook Community College Friday afternoon. (Brent Cobb/McCook Community College)

Students from Norton Community High School placed first in the paint-in competition. Hitchcock County was awarded second place, Chase County came in third and a team from McCook received honorable mention.

Schools participating in this year's paint-in competition included: Southwest, Hayes Center, Chase County, Cambridge, Southern Valley, Gothenburg, Norton Community, McCook, Hitchcock County; Medicine Valley, Callaway, Sutherland, Ogallala, Wauneta-Palisade, Arnold, Maywood, Dundy County, Wallace and Lexington.

Thomas Hoxmeier of Southern Valley High School received "Best of Show" honors for his submission to the art exhibition, titled "Thursday Matinee."

MCC Art Instructor Rick Johnson announced scholarships to both paint-in participants and current MCC students.

2015 paint-in scholarships amounting to $750 each were awarded to Rebekah Huff and Courtney Garcia, both of McCook. Lauren Sprinkle of Cambridge received a $500 scholarship and $250s cholarships were awarded to Ashley Laurie and Bailey Kool, both of McCook.

The $1,000 L. Jack Olsen scholarship was awarded to Hannah Goss. The $1,000 Stevens Art scholarship was awarded to Kendra Baucham.

MCC sophomores Sammy Riedel and Emllene Sides received $500 art scholarships. Jessica McQustin and Whitney Loos both received $250 scholarships.

The McCook Art Guild also awarded more than $250 in scholarships to several MCC freshmen for the purchase of art supplies at the McCook Art Guild.

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