Painting By Middletown South Teenager Honored By Congressman

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — An eleventh grader at Middletown High School South won fifth place in the 2025 Congressional High School Art Competition, sponsored by this area's congressman, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ4).

The teenager is: Sydney Jones, honored for her oil painting "Shadows of Thought." Her art teachers are Brittany James and Heather Cadalzo.

Jones is one of 75 students from Ocean and Monmouth counties who participated in the annual art competition.

The first-place winner is Marisa Amitie from Wall High School, who won Best-in-Show. Amitie's remarkable work (see it above) will be displayed inside the U.S. Capitol building over the next year. It was done in staples and brad nails on corkboard and depicted her dog, which died last year. It is called "Beloved."

All artwork submitted to the competition has been on display at Ocean University Medical Center in Brick over the past month. The students were honored in an awards ceremony Friday night at the hospital.

Smith told the students that when President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act in 1965 into law, he said, “Art is a nation’s most precious heritage."

Quoting from the book of Proverbs in the Bible, Johnson went on to say, “And where there is no vision, the people perish.” Smith also quoted President Ronald Reagan, who in exalting the right to free speech and expression said, “Where there’s liberty, art succeeds.”

You can see the winning artwork submitted by the local Monmouth and Ocean teens: 2025 winners. The judging panel was comprised of local artists Debbie Jencsik and Jim Inzero. Winners:

• Best in Show: Marisa Amitie’s “Beloved,” done in staples and brad nails in corkboard. A graduating senior of Wall High School, her art teacher is Jill Alexander;
• First Place Runner-up- Katherine Doran’s “Twilight in Ocean Grove,” done in colored pencil and acrylic on black paper. She is an 11th grader at Wall High School. Her art teacher is Jill Alexander;
• Second Place Runner-Up- Julia Ahlfeld “Morning swim” done in oil on Masonite. An 11th grader at Wall High School, her teacher is Jill Alexander;
• Third Place Runner-up- Chiara Byrnes’s “Natures sculptures,” done in white charcoal. A 10th grader at Wall High School, her teacher Jill Alexander;
• Fourth Place Runner-up- Laila Abogabal’s “Hydrangea Reflections” done in oil pastel. Laila is a 9th grader at Wall High School. Her teacher is Jill Alexander;
• Fifth Place Runner-up- Sydney Jones’ “Shadows of Thought” done in oil paint. A Middletown High School South 11th grader, her art teachers are Brittany James and Heather Cadalzo;
• Honorable Mention: Tillie Grbic’s “Array of Color,” in oil pastel. A 9th grader at Wall High School, her teacher is Jill Alexander;
• Honorable Mention: Xixuan Zhu’s “Self Portrait,” done in oil on canvas. A Manasquan High School 12th grader, her teacher is Ms. Herman;
• Honorable Mention: Brooke White, “Embers of the Horizon” done in oil. A Wall High School 9th grader, her teacher is Jill Alexander, and;
• Honorable Mention: Ian Fox’s “Cemanahuac Iyech Calli” done in acrylic. The Jackson Liberty High School 12th grader’s teacher is Ms. Megan Bender.