Photo Caption: (Pictured, from left to right): U.S. Congressman Mark Green and Arrianne Arcega, first place winner and sophomore at Hickman County High School.

(COLUMBIA, Tenn. – April 9, 2019) - - -Columbia State Community College recently hosted the 2019 Congressional Art Competition artists’ reception for the State of Tennessee and the office of U.S. Congressman, Mark Green.

The competition awarded first, second, third and two honorable mention winners from a variety of submissions that included paintings, drawings, collages, prints, mixed media, computer-generated artworks and photographs. Submissions will hang on the second-floor walls of the Administration Building on the Williamson Campus through April 17. 

“The college is pleased to host the students’ work and to welcome them with their parents and high school teachers to Columbia State’s campus,” said Bethany Lay, Columbia State vice president for Advancement and executive director of the Columbia State Foundation. “The talent is impressive. We hope these high school students graduate to college students attending Columbia State.”

Arrianne Arcega, a sophomore at Hickman County High School, won first place in the competition with her hand-drawn submission titled “The Jigsaw of Life.” The piece was created to embody the diversity in humans.

“We’re all different,” Arcega said. “The piece is incomplete because life is a mystery.”

Other winners include second place winner, “Untitled” by Emily Hawkinson, Page High School student; third place winner, “Eye of my Apple” by Blythe Persel, Brentwood High School student; honorable mention winner, “Lima, Peru” by Kaylin Keever, Page High School student; and honorable mention winner, “Dancing Squirrels” by Elizabeth Crouse, Rossview High School student.

“I appreciate the students and their willingness to put their work out there,” Green said. “When you start with a raw canvas or computer screen or a piece of clay and you create something from nothing, that is special.” 

Green noted that the Congressional Art Competition has been going on since 1982 and that Arcega, along with other Tennessee winners, will be recognized at an annual awards ceremony this summer in Washington, D.C. Her work will be displayed for one year at the U.S. Capitol. In addition, the Columbia State Foundation has donated a $1,000 scholarship that Arcega can use towards her education if she attends Columbia State.

The Administration Building is on the Williamson Campus, located at 1228 Liberty Pike, Franklin.

For additional information about the Congressional Institute, visit www.conginst.org. 

Photo Caption: (Pictured, from left to right): Honorable mention winner, “Lima, Peru” by Kaylin Keever, Page High School student;second place winner, “Untitled” by Emily Hawkinson, Page High School student; first place winner, “The Jigsaw of Life” by Arrianne Arcega, Hickman County High School student; U.S. Congressman Mark Green; and Pryor Art Gallery curator, Michele Wilkinson.