Art Contest 2020
Winners of the 2020 Environmental Art Contest
Judges' Choice
Karen Riley
“I repurposed an old globe that was destined for a school dumpster.
Earth is the space we live on. It is threatened by human destruction and when we all realize this and come together, and work hard together, our space will be reborn.
The poem on the earth’s surface reads:
Once upon a time
I lived in a world of blue and green
Where striped, spotted, and camouflaged roamed.
But plumes and blooms of man
Were cultivated for greed and destruction.
And now, a world of gray and black
Bleached by those efforts.
Hoping on hope,
Waiting on the enlightened.
Fingers crossed.”
Best Environmental Art
Kali Edwards
9th grade, Leadership Military Academy
“This painting is about how the improper care of earth effects more than just our planet. We are damaging our atmosphere and letting intoxicants, in addition to other materials, into space.”
Best Recycled Art
Thomas Alban
“Old Refractory bricks from a non-functional gas kiln. The bricks were carved, then glazed, and mounted on plywood left over from construction.
This piece is called ‘Drawing Down the Sun.’ You see, I don’t like cold weather, and when the sun starts leaving the earth I know chilly weather is coming soon. This is about me trying to bring the sun back down. The bird and the symbol next to it are the galactic snowboarders leaving the planet for the time being. I carved the sun during last solstice, so in a way I guess it worked.”
PRE-SCHOOL
Top Entry
Camden Fierro
Pre-School, Rancho Heritage School
“Recycled styrofoam packing material, pipe cleaners, beads, and buttons. As with many sculptures, they can be viewed and interpreted as different things. The original vision for this sculpture was a rocket, but we think it resembles planets in orbit as well.”
KINDERGARTEN
Top Entry
Brewer Fierro
The Ontario Center School
“Recycled Rice Krispies Treats box with cut-up pieces of recycled magazines glued on.
There is a large ringed planet. It is surrounded by the darkness of space. There are a few twinkling stars in the background.”
Runner Up
Lincoln Mix
Truman Elementary School
“Acrylic and washable craft paint.
My painting is the Sun, which connects to the space theme by keeping us warm. The Sun also shines on other planets, like Mars, which I painted next to the Sun.”
FIRST GRADE
Top Entry
Divyadharshini Balamurugan
Chinmaya VidyalayaIndia School,
Chennai, India
“Oil pastel. My drawing says which technology in space we must need for our environment to improve, like weather forecast and earthquake etc..in our space technology helps to our environment.”
THIRD GRADE
Top Entry
Yezebel Vergara
Virginia Primrose Elementary School
“Aluminium, glue, markers, acrylic paint, price tags, card board, foam balls, googly eyes and cans.
Space– it’s always going to be a mystery. We always learned something new.”
FOURTH GRADE
Top Entry
Liyah Vilete
Leadership Military Academy
“Acrylic paints. My painting is about inner space. It shows that on the inside and outside I stay cool and calm. I used mostly cool colors that match my inner self.”
Runner Up
Malinalli Avila
REACH Leadership STEAM Academy
“Paper, pencil, twig, crayons, and leaves. My art connects to the space theme because the moon is in space, and Wall-E and the flower represents the way humans live: with technology and nature, and one day we will be able to live on the moon.”
FIFTH GRADE
Top Entry
Anika Arnold
Katherine Finchy Elementary
“I used 4 colorful pieces of paper, color markers, paint, rocks, fish line, toy dolphin, shells, shrinky dinks, and recycled trash (For Example: rubber bands, bottle caps, plastic rappers, straws, balloon, clementine net, and 2 large cookie containers).
My project has to do with ocean, which is the “green space” I chose. It connects to green space because is part of nature. The environmental issue I wanted to talk about is pollution. My project [is an example of] what happens when people pollute the ocean with trash. During the coronavirus “Shelter in Place”, I saw pictures of once dirty waterways that became clear again. When people don’t pollute the ocean there is more sea life, it is more clear, much happier.”
SIXTH GRADE
Top Entry
Daisy Alvis
Ranch Verde Elementary
“I used markers, a pencil, paper.
The planet represents one of the planets in space. The stars at the top represents the stars in space. Finally, and all the dots represents the atmosphere.”
NINTH GRADE
Top Entry
Anahi Hernandez
Leadership Military Academy
“Acrylic paint.
The meaning of the painting is you have to look through the darkness to see the beauty on the other side.”
ELEVENTH GRADE
Top Entry
Brenda Nelms
Granite Hills High School
“For this piece I used a mechanical pencil and colored pencils. Other materials I used as well is a blending stump, highlighter, and white out.
This piece holds an intimate moment between two people with stars and planets in and around their mouths. In my work I am trying to show that no matter how close you can be to each other, there will always be space inbetween you. Pun intended. The white dots around the work can be represented as more non-prominent stars or acne.”
TWELFTH GRADE
Top Entry
Josolyn Jimenez
Leadership Military Academy
“Drawing with graphite and color pencils.
One hand tries to hold and protect the world, while the other hand seems to want to hurt it. It shows that even though we all share the same space (the world), not everyone is on the same page of preserving and taking care of the earth.”
COLLEGE LEVEL
Top Entry
Kiwana Woods
Leadership Military Academy
“Acrylic paint.
This time in the world’s life will blow away eventually. One thing we should take away from this time is that social space does not mean isolation. Stay connected and expand our social circles to help, love, and respect everyone.”
ADULT ENTRIES
Top Entry
Jacqueline Gardner
Watercolor on paper
“One of my favorite campfire stories is about the hummingbird that poked constellations of the other animals up in the sky. In a time of crisis when the whole sky went dark after it was covered with a blanket, neither the cougar nor strong bear could tear down. It was the humble hummingbird that in the end poked holes in the blanket to make the stars, honoring the efforts of the whole community in the sky. I hope this honors the work of our hummingbirds and other great animals that sustain our ecosystems. Look for ursa major, ursa minor, and leo minor up in the sky (hint: the “shining” star is Polaris).”
Runner Up
Karen Martin
Acrylic paints
“As of 2019, more than 128934000 million pieces of debris, better known as Space Junk, has been estimated to be in orbit around the Earth. This includes abandoned satellites, in fact, there has been close calls where satellites have almost collided. The painting displays how the earth needs to be responsible and clean up our junk.”
Runner Up
Tuesday May Thomas
Acrylic paint on canvas
“Humphry the Humpback Whale is swimming in space. The lines of energy that cross his body are currents of cosmic consciousness. These currents of cosmic consciousness connect all people, places and things in the universe. When Humphry sings, his ‘whalesong’ is carried across these currents through all time and space, bringing healing and peace to all of life, everywhere.”
Runner Up
Erin Mix
Acrylic paint
“I painted the planet Mars for the space theme because I love following the updates from the Rovers. I think humans should explore Mars someday and expand our space programs.”
Runner Up
Selva Ozelli
Oil
“Deadly tsunami ‘shadows’ visible from space give early warning of killer waves. Satellites can spot a tsunami as it unfolds in the open ocean, researchers have found, and could in future be used as part of an early warning system.”
