Rocky Mountain students recognized at art symposium

Six students from Rocky Mountain High School and Middle School attended the 56th annual Wyoming State High School Art Symposium April 17-19 in Casper. Retiring art teacher Berta Newton and incoming art teacher Erica Griffin also attended the event.

Some of the student submissions included acrylic paintings and mixed medium works using multiple materials.

RMHS junior Shar Hanusa brought home three ribbons from State for her acrylic paintings and watercolor. Sophomore Taylor Gifford won a ribbon for her beautifully painted seashell.

Newton said the group could not find Gifford’s painted shell after everything was judged but later found it in a holding area designated for 50 pieces selected by Wyoming›s First Lady Jennie Gordon. The first lady selected artwork created by students from each county across the state. The painted shell, along with other pieces, will be displayed in the Governor’s mansion for the remainder of the year.

This year, 67 schools participated in the symposium, and more than 4,700 pieces of artwork were submitted. 

According to Newton, only 25 percent of the total pieces entered in the State Art Symposium receive a ribbon.

In a separate contest, Bailey Gifford, an eighth-grade Rocky Mountain Middle School student, won an honorable mention for her entry to the Wyoming Native Plants Art Contest, sponsored by the Wyoming Native Plant Society. The contest celebrates Wyoming Native Plant Month in April and was open to students sixth through eighth grade. The theme of the contest was “Help Wildlife: Grow Native Plants.”