William Carey University Hosts High School Art Competition

Hattiesburg, MS, February 3, 2010 - The William Carey University Department of Art will host the first annual High School Art Competition and Scholarship Awards Ceremony for high school juniors and seniors May 8 at 2 p.m. Student works will be exhibited in the Lucile Parker Gallery on that day from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. only.

Open to all 11th and 12th grade students only, the competition will include painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, and mixed media flatwork.

“The work of high school students is important to us,” said Dr. Read Diket, professor of art and education. “From their work we learn about current emphases in the high school classroom, and we see the embodiment of ideas that are central to the development of artists in today’s complex society.” 

Tommie Rodgers, registrar/curator of exhibitions at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, will judge the artwork with assistance from WCU art faculty. Winners and high school artists accepted into the show will be notified prior to the May 8 ceremony.

Registration forms must be turned in no later than Friday, April 16, and entries hand-delivered no later than Tuesday, April 27, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to the Lucile Parker Gallery.

Awards include a $2000 WCU art scholarship for Best in Show, and scholarships for first, second, third places as well as a WCU President’s Purchase Award. The purchased art work will become part of the Lucile Parker Teaching Collection.

Teachers and students bringing work to the High School Showcase have an opportunity to view the WCU 2010 Student Show. Work of William Carey University students from Tradition and Hattiesburg campuses will hang in the gallery as part of Carey's year end celebration of student art. The university student show runs April 19 through 30 from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

For more information contact Dr. Read Diket, director of art study on the Hattiesburg campus, at rdiket@wmcarey.edu or 601-318-6205 or Chathan Meade, Parker Gallery director, at cmeade@wmcarey.edu or 601-318-6528.