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Schakowsky announces winner of 2017 Congressional Art Competition

May 11, 2017

Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky announced the following winners of this year’s Congressional Art Competition:

  • 1st place:Sidney Faánunu, Niles North High School

o Artwork Title: “Ahhotep I”

o Medium: Acrylic Paint

  • 2nd Place: Momoko Hasselbring, Evanston Township High School

o Artwork Title: “Octopus”

o Medium: Scratchboard

  • 3rd Place:Jasmine David, Niles North High School

o Artwork Title: Dillon

o Medium: Mixed Media

Now in its thirty-fifth year, ‘An Artistic Discovery’ is a national art competition designed to showcase and reward the artistic ability of America’s young artists. Since the competition was created in 1982, hundreds of thousands of high school students have participated at the local level. This year, Rep. Schakowsky is delighted that 38 students from 15 area high schools have submitted artwork to our 9th Congressional District competition, including every special education high school in the 9th district, truly representing a cross-section of our community. This remarkable exhibit reflects the creative ability and awesome potential of our nation’s young people. After announcing the results, Congresswoman Schakowsky released the following statement:

“Every year, I look forward to meeting the participants of my District’s Artistic Discovery competition and seeing the incredible artwork they have created,” said Rep. Schakowsky. “The competition for first place was extremely close, and I want to congratulate every single participant in this year’s event. The talent and creativity on display were awe-inspiring.”

“In particular, I’d like to extend my congratulations to our first place winner, Sidney Faánunu. Not only was her painting visually stunning, but the inspiration behind it was especially important to me. Sidney was tasked with painting a strong woman from history, and went back as far as the Ancient Egyptians to find a great example. Thank you for your hard work!”

“On a less inspiring note, this year House Speaker Paul Ryan has imposed a set of ‘suitability guidelines’ to the Art Competition to prevent controversy in the winning paintings. That is outrageous - it invites Members of Congress to become art censors, which I simply will not do. Speaker Ryan’s changes to the competition come as a response to the controversy surrounding one of last year’s winners – a painting titled “Ferguson,” which was removed from the halls of Congress on several occasions because certain Representatives found it offensive. I spoke out against their censorship on the House floor and maintain my opposition.”

Rep. Schakowsky with first place winner Sidney Faánunu and her artwork