Pinecrest Gardens Blog: 8th Annual Environmental Arts Contest Recap

Press release from Pinecrest Gardens Blog:

January 31, 2022

 Another year of hosting my favorite program has passed! If you're not familiar, each year we host an environmental arts contest for students grades 4-12 throughout Miami-Dade County. The contest is open to all student of public and private schools, and this year, we welcomed some homeschool entries for the first time! 

Every year there is a theme to the contest, with this year's being "Nature Glow". Basically, students were prompted to create a piece of art that reflects how light is used in nature. This could be for example, a sunrise, glow in the dark mushroom, bioluminescence of a lightning bug, etc. 

The theme helps to keep the contest exciting each year, and helps students to research and learn about something new. In one of our largest contests yet, we had over 230 entries! I absolutely love receiving the pieces to see what the students have been working on. It really is one of the highlights of my year. 

The purpose of the contest is for the students to think about the environment, art and learn something new. At Pinecrest Gardens, art is a huge part of who we are. We have changing monumental exhibitions, an artist in residence, several permanent pieces in our collection, and two galleries on property. When the students enter the contest, it is with the understanding that their pieces will be on display for the Fine Arts Festival during the third weekend  of January. This is a juried art show with over 50 arts vendors, and the students have the opportunity to sell their pieces at this event if they choose. For many of the students this opportunity is the first time their work has been displayed in an art show, or for the public to see!  Fostering these experiences for these students and for our community is important in sustaining our mission at Pinecrest Gardens, and helps the students leave their legacy here as well.

Each year, the contest is judges by professionals in the fields of education, arts, or environment. This year our wonderful judges were Vice Mayor Katie Abbot, Alina Rodriguez Curriculum support specialist for Visual Arts Department of MDCPS, and Adam Roberti, Director of Cortada Projects. Our judges evaluate each piece and score them individually, and the winners are based off of those scores. 

The contest is grouped into 3 categories, grades 4-6, grades 7-9 and grades 10-12. 

The winners in each category are as follows:

 GRADES 4-6:

1st Place Fredrick Nooij, "Shedding Light on Mangrove Ecosystems" Gulliver Prep

2nd Place Dylan Garcia, "Jellyfish Flow", Hialeah Elementary 

3rs Place Isabella Dosal, "The Comet through the Sky" Gulliver Prep

GRADES 7-9:

1st Place Paula Utrera "The Twilight
Siphonophore", Coral Reef High School

 2nd Place Joselyn Rodriguez
"Save the Beauty of the Oceans", Hammocks Middle School

 3rd Place
Carolina Aguila "Aquatic Habitats", Glades Middle School

GRADES 10-12:

1st Place Raphaella Vargas, "Nocturnal Beauty", Pinecrest Preparatory Academy Charter High School 

2nd place Julia Carvajal, "Ocean of Lights", Miami Springs Senior High 

3rd Place Alanias Frontal, "Brightness within Darkness" Miami Sunset Senior High

All of the students that entered the contest did a remarkable job, and all had the opportunity to attend over the weekend to see their pieces displayed in the Hibiscus Gallery. This is one of the best art shows we have at Pinecrest Gardens, because the community is incredibly involved and the art really shines. I'm already looking forward to next year! Congratulations to all students, teachers and 

This press release was produced by Pinecrest Gardens Blog. The views expressed here are the author’s own.