Art Department
Awards and Highlights

2007-2008

(April 2008) Five H-F High School Art students were invited to represent H-F's Art department in the Second      
Congressional District Art Exhibition, An Artistic Discovery, on Saturday, April 26th at Prairie State College. This year all five students were recognized by Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. with either a placing award or an award of distinction. The following students were recognized: Rachel Mayer, Award of Distinction for her colored pencil drawing; Mackenzie Szymanski, Award of Distinction for her photograph; Carolyn Hartmann, 3rd Place for her self-portrait; Ginta Sutkus, 2nd Place for her colored pencil drawing; and Jeremy Wright, 1st Place for his colored pencil self-portrait. In addition, Wright’s piece of artwork will be professional framed and hung in our nation's capital for an entire year. Wright and two guests will take an all expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. for a special recognition ceremony in June, 2008.

(March 2008) H-F High School’s Art students were proud to learn that 26 pieces of their artwork were accepted at this year’s 12th Annual Juried Area High School Art Exhibition on Saturday, March 8th, at Prairie State College. The “Voices of Vision” exhibition chooses only 48 pieces and H-F was excited to hear they were a big part of those accepted. There were over 150 submissions from students who attend high schools with in the Prairie State College District.  The following students’ pieces were accepted to exhibit: Mackenzie Szymanski (Best of Show and Merit Award), Robin Jackson (Best of Category: Commercial Art), Melissa Huang (Best of Category: Drawing), Eric Lundquist (Merit Award), Jessie Buckley (Merit Award), Francesca Farruggia, Zoe Lubeck, Ericka Adamonis, Nikki Ratliff, Casey Thompson, Briana Shelby, Jessie Buckley, Bryne Hadnott, Teresa Ciambrone, Amanda Moore, Ryan Shaules, Amelia Koons, Melissa Rochelle, Jihan Bibb, Katie Woodward, Emma Day and Zachary Lyttle.

(February 2008)   Homewood-Flossmoor High School’s teachers donated their artwork for auction in the Art Against       AIDS event, hosted by the Junior Board of Heartland Alliance, on Thursday, February 28th, at the River East Art Center in Chicago. Art Against AIDS features live and silent fine art auctions with artwork from all over the country. This event boasts more than 75 pieces in a variety of mediums. The proceeds from the event help Heartland Alliance’s HIV/AIDS programs and services, including primary care, referrals, assistance with transportation and lab costs, housing, alternative therapies, HIV prevention education, and oral healthcare. The following teachers participated in this special event: Melissa Sauder, Jackie Wargo, Greg Petecki, Heidi Stachulak, Candi Helsel, Levi McCulloch, Lorelei Jones and Jason Miller. These donators helped contribute to the $100,000 raised that evening.
 

2006-2007

(May 2007) Congratulations to this year's SWSC Visual Arts Festival Participants whom were awarded for their artwork on Friday, February 15th. The winners were: Jessie Buckley, Best of School Award; Erik Lundquist, Best 2-D Art Award; Taylor Linschoten, Best 3-D Art Award; Katie Woodward, Honorable Mention for Digital Collage; and Simone Roby, Cover Design Award. This year 11 high schools participated in the festival and contest.

(May 2007) Congratulations to teacher Lorelei Jones for she has been selected into the Distinguished Members of the Illinois Art Education Association.

Eight H-F Art students won awards at the 33rd Annual Tri-County Junior/Senior High School Arts Exhibition this past weekend. The following students won awards: Aaron Hicks, Outstanding Award; Aramis Hamer, Emily Ehlers, and Kathleen Skelton, First in Media; Nikki Ratliff, Award of Distinction; Taylor Lenoir, Kappa Kappa Kappa Best Drawing Award; Chase Langefeld, Donald H. Berwanger Award of Excellence; and Sara Callahan, Donald H. Berwanger Scholarship Award $5000.  HF took home prizes totally over $5500.00 for student art work.

The following art students placed in the IHSA state finals for journalism.
          Allison Bivin 6th Place for Yearbook Layout
          Joanna Dau 6th Place for Headline Writing

Yearbook students (along with Voyager students) attended the IHSA Sectional Journalism Competition on 4/21/07. Eight of the nine HF students made it to the State Finals. As a team we placed 2nd out of nine school teams.

Donald Goens, Newswriting, 3rd place
Frances Hathcock, Review Writing, Sectional Champ
Allison Bivin, Yearbook Layout, 3rd Place
Marsha Sanchez, Photography, Sectional Champ
Harinand Tyagi, Feature Writing, 2nd Place
Joanna Dau, Headline Writing, Sectional Champ
Kassie McLaughlin Newspaper Sports Writing, 3rd Place
Lauren Yannow, Newspaper Design, Sectional Champ
Joel Dobben, Editorial Writing, 3rd Place

HF placed 2nd overall.
 

We are proud to announce that three of our eleven H-F art students won awards at our recent SWSC art exhibition last Friday hosted by Robert Morris College.   Winners:  Senior Emily Ehlers - SWSC logo design; Senior Kathleen Skelton - Honorable Mention; Junior Lee Cheney - Best of School.   Participates: 1. Amy Jurkiewicz; 2. Piper Hudson; 3. Stephanie Joffe; 4. Brittany Burke: 5. Mackenzie Szymanski; 6. Nikkie Ratliff; 7. Sara Callahan; 8. Kathleen Skelton; 9. Aramis Harmer; 10. Lee Cheney; 11. Emily Ehlers. See some of the participants and winners.

The AP Art classes showcase their "Memory Project" sketches at Bamboo blue from 7:00-8:30 p.m, Friday, March 9th, 2007, with a raffle of pieces of their artwork.

Twenty-six HF students' work was recently accepted in the Prairie State College juried exhibition "Flow." Out of the 48 pieces in the show, 28 were created by HF art students and 9 of those students won either merit or best of category awards.  The reception and award ceremony was held at Prairie State's Christopher Art Gallery on March 15th at 7 pm.
Student Participants:, Mike Mitchell, Eden Caplan, Gwen Cooke, Tyler Avery, Yvonne Hall, Katie Woodward - Merit Award, Lakeya Moore, Aramis Hamer - Merit Award, Aaron Hicks - Merit Award, Christian Lorenzo - Best of Category, Brittany Philpot - Best of Category, Emily Elhers - Best of Category, Julia Ward, Ashley Berner, Rachel Gonzales - Merit Award, Erik Lundquist, Sadie Cooper, Cody Carson, Dan Spain, Kelly O'Connor, Robin Jackson, Nikki Ratliff, Alice Feldt, Ashley Tucker - Merit Award, Katie McGarngle, Ryan Shaules - Merit Award

2005-06

Congratulations to Andy Klass, for having his first place in the k-12 division of the SIGGRAPH Student Poster and Animation Contest.  Andy's poster will travel national for the upcoming year and his work will then be posted on the SIGGRAPH Education Committee's contest gallery website.

Seven of ten H-F High School Art students received “Merit” awards as a special acknowledgment for their entries at this year’s “Rise,” a juried art competition for high school students, which was held on March 14th at Prairie State Community College. The seven H-F students presented with a “Merit” award for their outstanding work are as follows: Nikki Ratliff, Kylie Carpenter, Melissa Schlesinger, Caroline Schmitt, Kaylin Maanum, Katie Schranz and Kelvin Owens.

This year’s SWSC Visual Arts Conference Show Competitors: Aaron Adams, Samuel Bloechl, Daniela Carrillo, Molly Jani, Rachel Mayer, Stephanie Meiser, John Mitros, Jonathon Robinson, Katherine Schranz, and Melissa Schlesinger.  Best of School was won by Katherine Schranz.

The 2006 Prairie State College Competition Merit Award Winners are:  Samuel Bloechl, Kylie Carpenter, Kaylin Maanum, Kelvin Owens, Nicole Ratliff, Melissa Schlesinger, Katherine Schranz, and Caroline Schmitt.  Honorable Mention winner was:  Nicole Ratliff.

On Saturday, April 29th, Yvonne Hall, a H-F junior, took second place at the 2nd Congressional District Art Competition Awards Ceremony, sponsored by Congressman Jesse Jackson, at Prairie State College. The H-F participants were:  Sam Bloechl, Yvonne Hall, Aramas Hamer, Peter Johnson, and Marcus Moody.

Congratulations to the following eight H-F students who walked away this weekend with either scholarships or cash prizes for their art work in this year's Northern Indiana Arts Association Art Show. Congratulations to: Philip Blair for his $5000 Donald H. Berwanger Scholarship Award, John Mitros for his $500 Calumet College of Saint Joseph Award of Merit, Melissa Schlesinger for her $200 Ruth Crnkovich Award, Katherine Schranz for her $50 William F. Meeker Memorial Award, Kaylin Maanum and Brett Baird for their $100 Awards of Distinction, Alice Feldt and Philip Blair for their $100 First in Media, and Sam Bloechl for his $15 Honorable Mention. H-F walked away with a total of $6, 065 in prize money!

HOMEWOOD WOMEN’S CLUB SCHOLARSHIP recipient is:  Aramis Hamer.

2004-05

Congratulations to Emily Isom, freshman, and Taylor Lenior, sophomore, for having their work selected for the 2005-06 Illinois Art Education Association State Art Show.  Each year, 40 pieces of art work are selected for the statewide travelling exhibit.  The competition is open to Illinois students k-12.  This year there were 590 entries from 55 different schools.  The judging is completely confidential, meaning the judges only knew the grade levels, not schools, teachers, or any other information.  The teacher's lesson plans will also be on display with the work.  There will be a reception to honor all the student artists at the IAEA Conference in Galena in October, 2005.  The work will then travel around the state for the rest of the school year.  More information will be sent out in August to the teachers, parents, and administrators.

The following art students qualified for the 41st Annual Illinois SkillsUSA Leadership Conference & Skill Championships to be held at the Prairie Capitol Convention Center and other locations in Springfield Illinois. Adobe Photoshop Design:  Matt Debelak.  Photography:  James Alejundro, Phil Blair, Mike Crowe, Jamison Liang, Dan Hojnacki, Eli Phillips, and Jon Wisniewski. H-F will also enter the Creative Photography Competition.  Each of the photography students listed above will also be displaying their work in the Black and White and/or Color competitions.

Results of the SkillsUSA State Competition:  Technical Photography- Ely Phillips (2nd Place; runner-up for nationals), Mike Crowe (5th place), Dan Hojnacki (7th place), Jon Wisniewski (8th place), Phil Blair (9th place), and James Alejandro (10th place).  Creative Photography Black & White- Mike Crowe (6th place), Phil Blair (10th place), and Jon Wisniewski (16th place).

The Prairie State Art Exhibit was held on Thursday, March 10th.  Seven schools participated in the juried exhibit.  Forty-five works were chosen to be displayed, eighteen of them were from H-F students. The following H-F students won Best of Category (our students received 3 of 7 category awards given):  Photography - Phil Blair; Graphic Design - Julius Baldridge, Jr.; Sculpture - Jonathan Cohn. Congratulations also to the following students for being selected for the exhibit: Aramis Hamer, Ken Berry, Sara Callahan, Jeff Colin, Anthony Garza, Robin Holmes, Chase Langefeld, Charles Lara, Caitlin Van Ort, Ely Phillips, Anne Robertson, Max Rockman, Amanda Scully, Sarah Serviss, and Ashley Tucker.

Each year, the Illinois Art Education Association publishes a poster with self-portraits of students from across Illinois to celebrate Youth Art Month in March.  Only 25 students, kindergarten through 12th grade are selected for the poster.  Congratulations to Robyn Grutzius and Taylor Lenior for having their work selected for the poster!

Art Teachers Jackie Wargo and Anne Blue are Youth Art Month Co-chairs for the IAEA. Art Teacher Lorelei Jones is the technology column writer for the IAEA's Mosaic state newsletter.

Art Teacher Rebecca Healy was taped for the CRISS training video that is now on sale through CRISS for other teachers to purchase. She is also featured on the cover of the video tape.

Art Teacher Rebecca Healy received a nomination for the University of Chicago Honors from one of her past students this school year.

Art teachers Greg Petecki, Jackie Wargo, and Anne Blue present "Fostering Excellence in a Visual Art Program" at the National Art Education Association convention in Boston.  They share the keys to H-F's successful art program.  The session is attended by department chairs and veteran teachers from across the country.  Anne Blue presented "Survivor:  The FIrst Years of Teaching" with a panel of early professionals.  The presentation was geared toward college and university students about to enter the teaching force.  Anne Blue also facilitated the Early Professionals Forum at this convention.

 

2003-04

The visual art students and faculty received the Best Overall School Display at the Northern Indiana Arts Association Jr./Sr. High School Exhibit.  Top students from the upper-level art classes made up the team that displayed work in the show.

This summer, art students Nate Lockwood and Caleb Padgett (Class of 2004), had their Electronic Imaging artwork awarded an Honorable Mention in the juried SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics) Student Poster Show. The show will travel nationally for a year, and will also be displayed on their web site.

Art Student Mandy Scully's violin was chosen for the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra's "ENCORE" Design Contest. Mandy was one of the five finalist to be chosen for the show.

Each year, the Illinois Art Education Association holds its annual Student Art Exhibit.  It is open to Illinois students, grades K-12.  Only 40 works are selected from the hundreds of submissions.  Only three works are selected from each grade.  This year H-F had four students selected for this statewide exhibition.  The opening will be held during the IAEA Convention in Chicago at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza on Saturday morning, November 6th, 2004.  After the convention the exhibit will travel around the state to various elementary and high schools for a year.  The following H-F students were selected for this exhibit:  Ashley Mitchell (grade 12), Bridget Nicholson (grade 10),  Sarah Serviss (grade 12), and William Wilson (class of 2004).  This is a great honor for these students.  The administrators and families of these students should be receiving invitations from the IAEA very soon.  Along with the show, the teachers of these students will have their lesson plans on display for other IAEA members from throughout the state to peruse.  Congratulations to Jackie Wargo and Rebecca Healy for having their students selected for this show.

At the recent Northern Indiana Arts Association Annual Tri-County Junior/Senior High School Art Exhibition (April 25th to May 23rd), senior Ross Floyd won the Donald H. Berwanger Scholarship Award of $5,000, along with the Calumet College of Saint Joseph Award of $500. The Best of Show 2-D Award of $250 went to junior Chloe Langefeld for Raspberry Yogurt. The Kappa Kappa Kappa Best Drawing Award ($25) went to senior Brett Jones for Portrait of Artist as a Young Man. Awards of Distinction ($100) went to sophomore Melissa Schlisinger and junior Sarah Serviss. An Honorable Mention  Award ($10) went to senior Ranae Habenschuss. Nineteen high schools participated with a total of 323 entries.

Congratulations to Electronic Imaging student, Brian Ziegler, who placed third in state at the Photoshop competition of the SkillsUSA competition in Springfield. Brian first had to pass a qualifying test (written test) earlier this spring in order to compete in Springfield. The competition consisted of a work session in which students used images that were supplied and manipulated them (using Photoshop) towards a specific goal.

Art Teacher Rebecca Healy was nominated for the Golden Apple. 

Art students who were AP scholars (9 out of 52...17%)
Mara Adelman
Maria Bringley
Sara Glick
Brian HAnd
Robin Holmes
Zach Lipschutz
David Snedden
Kristen Snyder
Sikiru Tijani 

Art students who were AP scholars with Honors (8 out of 24...33%)
Gail Aronson
Jessica Daley
Charu Grupta
Courtney Jones
Jamison Liang
Nikki Ul;ich
Alison Wessendorf
Ross Floyd 

Art students who were AP Scholars with distinction (8 out of 37...22%)
Dorothy Chyung
Katherine Harper
Brett Jones
Valerie Higgins
Eric Ou
Jon Gair
Stephen McCulloch
Sara Norris 

Art students who were national scholars (2 ou tof 10...20%)
Dorothy Chyung
Brett Jones

Art Teachers Rebecca Healy and Greg Petecki were nominated for IAEA Art Teacher of the Year.

Ashley Hooks (class of 2004) had a photograph accepted into the Southern Illinois University Juried Photography Exhibit which was open nationally to high school and junior college students.

Art Teacher Anne Blue was the National Art Education Association (NAEA) Student Chapter Past-President.

2002-03

The H-F Art Department received the IAEA Best School Art Program in Illinois Award.

Art Teacher Anne Blue was the NAEA Student Chapter President during the 2002-03 school year.

Art Teacher Lorelei Jones received the IAEA Distinguished Service in Art Education Award.