Lewisville, TX – Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) today announced the winner of the 11th annual 26th Congressional District Art Competition, “An Artistic Discovery.” The art competition was open to public, private and home-schooled high school students residing in or attending schools in the district. Ah Yeong Cho, a junior art student taught by James Neiswender at Marcus High School in Flower Mound, won the Grand Prize in the 2014 competition with her pencil and prismacolor drawing entitled “Release Me.”  

“This contest is designed to highlight the artistic achievements of our local high school students, and to share the results of those talents with our area and the rest of the country,” Burgess said. “Ah Yeong’s work makes the 26th District proud. She is a very talented young woman with a tremendous gift.”  

Burgess honored the finalists at a reception on Wednesday at the Center for the Visual Arts in Denton hosted by the art competition’s co-sponsor, The Greater Denton Arts Council.  The competition was judged by professional artist and instructor Jo Williams. 

This year marked the third year that entries were submitted digitally by art teachers on behalf of their students. This provided an opportunity for a “Texas Choice” winner to be selected by popular vote in the virtual gallery on Burgess’ website, burgess.house.gov.  More than 1,500 individuals cast votes for their favorite artwork. Brittney Boyd, a Prestonwood Christian Academy student taught by Brenda Robson was the winner of this category for her photograph “Monochromatic Bird.”  

Williams reviewed the posted artwork and determined the contest finalists based upon artistic merit, selecting a “Best of School” award for one student from each school based on her appraisal of artwork that had a high level of artistic merit and execution. These students were also finalists in the competition. 
All of the finalists were publicly recognized by Congressman Burgess with a “Certificate of Congressional Recognition.”

As the Grand Prize winner, Cho will have her artwork displayed for an entire year in the U.S. Capitol and has the opportunity to attend the national ceremony in Washington, DC in June.  The ceremony will honor the winning artists from congressional districts all over the country.  

In addition, Ye Jee Kim, a senior at Lewisville High School taught by Janet Cranston, won First Place for her oil painting “Blue Bag.”  Kim’s piece will be displayed in Burgess’ Lewisville district office for the next year.  

“Congratulations are in order for Ah Yeong, Ye Jee and Brittney for their creative achievements,” Burgess said.

Since the competition was first launched in 1982, more than 5,000 local contests have been conducted that have involved more than 650,000 high school students. Burgess said he was pleased to bring this worthwhile program to the high school students of the 26th District and looks forward to next year’s competition.

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