Pleasantville Students Shine at the Olympics of the Visual Arts

The following is from the Pleasantville Union Free School District:

Pleasantville Middle School and High School artists brought home awards in each of the categories they entered at this year’s Olympics of the Visual Arts (OVA), an annual state-wide competition sponsored by the NYS Art Teachers Association. Thirty school districts submitted 140 projects in eight categories – architecture, photography, fashion design, sculpture, painting, drawing, illustration, and numismatic design – that were adjudicated by over 45 professional artists, architects, and/or visual arts educators. Districts are allowed only one entry per category per level (elementary, middle school, and high school). (For details of the projects, go to nysata.org/olympics-of-the-visual-arts and click on 2013 OVA Long-Term Problems.)   Pleasantville High School students competed in three categories, with the following results: Second Place in Illustration – Laura Chapman and Mallory Kantor; Second Place in Sculpture – Jacob Nemec; and Honorable Mention in Photography – Sara Gellman, Marisa Aponte, Sarah Cusak, and Janna McPartland.

Pleasantville Middle School students competed and placed in five categories: First Place in Numismatic Design – Ariana Altman and Elizabeth Jankowski; First Place in Fashion (the most competitive category) – Samantha D’Angelo, Liz Faulkner, Silpaa Gunabalan, and Luisa Klein; Second Place in Photography (Middle School) – Carina Florio; Third Place in Photography (Elementary/5th grade) – Austin Altman; Third Place in Drawing – Sabrina Ipyam, Melissa Oliveira, and Marisa Rodriguez.

The OVA awards are the most recent achievements in a year in which, to date: Dana Stopler was selected as one of 25 finalists in the National Geographic Young Photographers competition that drew over 2000 entries. Sabrina Perlleshi received the Cornell Design Award 2013 Silver Honorable Mention for her fashion illustration. Angela Calvi received a Gold Key and a Silver Key for two drawings submitted to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards contest and Cary Chapman received a Silver Key for her submission, a painting. Art teacher/department chair Jim Maron noted, “This has been a banner year for high school art students entering state and national art competitions. We are so proud of all the art students who participate, win or lose.”