Scholastic Art Awards For Cole Students

The Rhode Island Scholastic Art Awards are given out yearly with the idea of providing recognition, support and scholarship opportunities for creative young artists throughout Rhode Island. This year, several artists from Cole Middle School were recognized. 

Students were honored at the 2013 awards ceremony at Salve Regina University in January. Students who received "Gold Keys" will have their work sent to New York City to compete in the national competition. Their art teachers were Nina Reiner and Dale DiNapoli.

Here's a list of the Cole winners:

• Fionna Chan, Sculpture, "Doorways to Peace and Destruction," Silver Key
• Fionna Chan, Printmaking, "Girl, In Reality,"  Gold Key
• Erin Culf, Drawing, "A New Perspective," Silver Key
• Rebecca Freeman, Mixed Media, "You Whooo," Silver Key
• Rebecca Freeman, Sculpture, "Bloom Where You Are Planted,"  Silver Key
• Brooke Matus, Mixed Media, "I Can't Sea You,"  Gold Key & American Visions Award (Best of Show) Nominee
• Brooke  Matus, Ceramics, "Pulling Back Together," Silver Key  

Brooke Matus on "I Can't Sea You," Paper Collage: I chose to do a beach scene because the beach is such a big part of my life. Whenever we go, we always spend long days there. My family and I see the crowds come and go. 

Brooke Matus on American Flag, "Pulling Back Together," Sculpture: For this assignment, I had to make something out of clay that was surreal. This idea came to me and I immediately loved it. In this piece, I created all New York buildings because, three years ago, I moved from there. It had a big impact on my life. 

Erin Culf on "A New Perspective," Drawing: When I was drawing, I was thinking about how diverse and crazy school is. It's a stressful environment and sometimes kids form cliques. Those cliques always have shared ideas, interests, etc., and on occasion, they bully other kids for not fitting into their ideas. Sometimes, middle and high school kids just need a new perspective. 

Fionna Chan on "Doorway to Peace and Destruction," Sculpture: My sculpture was, at first, just a box with mountains coming out; but Presly, my little brother, told me how cool it would be to put fire around the box and wings to rescue the snakes. I thought it was interesting, so I added them in. 

Fionna Chan on "Girl in Reality," Printmaking: My prints are pictures of me. The original stamp was made with yarn and cardstock that I layered. I'm proud of myself and thankful for my wonderful teacher, Mrs. Reiner. 

Rebecca Freeman on "Bloom Where You are Planted," Sculpture: This project was inspired by two of my good friends in art class. They are always braiding my hair, so the idea came to me as I was making it. The project was really fun to make and to see my idea come to life.  

Rebecca Freeman on "You Whooo," Paper Collage: For some reason owls have always intrigued me. I was thinking of an idea for this project and an owl came to mind. As I searched for photos, I found this very interesting owl who had eyes that were very prominent. I chose to work from this photo because it was different.