The North Carolina Azalea Festival Youth Art Contest is an annual art contest showcasing the amazing artistic talents of the youth in our community. Each year over 300 area public, private, and home-schooled elementary, middle school, and high school students submit their artwork to the contest, illustrating the traditions of the North Carolina Azalea Festival that mean the most to them. The winning artists (and second and third place) in all divisions receive various notable prizes, and some schools are even treated to a visit from the Azalea Festival Official Artist. Top place artists in each division will have their work showcased on the Azalea Festival website, and are invited to Raleigh to attend the Governor’s Press Conference with the Azalea Festival entourage. The Top 15 entries in each division are exhibited during the Azalea Festival at the Community Arts Center in the Historic Hannah Block USO Building. These artists also receive a complimentary ticket to the April Thalian Association Children’s Theatre (TACT) production.
Artist submissions are now being accepted for any student in K-12, across the state of North Carolina.
1st Place K-2 Elementary School Division
Vivian Kinard
Vivian Kinard is the 1 st place winner for the K-2 Elementary School division with her multi-media drawing/painting of a little girl blowing on a dandelion to make a wish for the virus to go away. It is aptly titled
“Make A Wish.” Vivian is a delightful 2 nd grade student at Porter’s Neck Elementary School who is so happy to be back at school and see her friends in person and not on Zoom. She loves to use her imagination at school, at home, at play, and in her artwork. In her spare time, she likes to play with her little sister and her mini golden doodle named Murphy. She plays the xylophone in her church choir and is earning to play lacrosse. Vivian also has artwork on display in the NHCS Best Foot Forward exhibit in the Wilma Daniels Gallery on the downtown campus
of Cape Fear Community College.
1st Place Grades 3-5 Elementary School Division
Graham Walls
Graham Walls is the 1st Place winner for the 3-5 Elementary School division. His entry, titled “Home,” is an eclectic montage of Wilmington landmarks that clearly illustrates that he Loves Where He Live! He has a golden doodle named Louie and is enjoying being a new big brother. Science is his favorite subject in school, and he has participated in several Science Olympiad competitions with his Carolina Beach Elementary schoolmates. He loves to play soccer and take rides along the beach in the family Jeep. Fun Fact about Graham: he is a clothing rep for Be Mo Kind, a local Carolina Beach pop-up. He, too, has artwork on display in the NHCS Best Foot Forward exhibit in the Wilma Daniels Gallery on the downtown campus of Cape Fear Community College, which will also appear on the cover of the Carolina Beach Elementary yearbook.
1st Place Middle School division
Ellie Ko
Ellie Ko, an 8th grader at Marvin Ridge Middle School in Waxhaw, NC, is the 1st Place winner in the Middle School division with her vivid and colorful Touch Marker ink drawing, titled “Getting Ready for the Parade.” Ellie says “When I think about Springtime, the Azalea Festival and the wonderful memories I have made at this event always comes to mind. The Parade is one of my favorite memories about Spring.” She has been a remote learner all year long, but has continued to take private art lessons to improve her technique and to keep her passion for art alive and thriving. She has been doing a lot of “dream writing” during quarantine and is toying with the idea of writing and illustrating a children’s book. With three younger siblings, she has a captive audience. This is Ellie’s second time earning a 1st Place finish in the Azalea Festival Youth Art Contest, middle school division!
1st Place for High School Division
Division Joelle Lowery
Joelle Lowery is the 1st Place winner for the High School Art Contest division. She is an 11th grade student at North Brunswick High School. Her art entry, titled “In Bloom,” is an exquisite acrylic painting of a woman’s profile emerging from a bouquet of flowers. Joelle has been drawing and painting since she was a toddler and even entered a school variety show drawing for the audience, Pictionary style. She has painted murals at her school, too. No surprise that Art is her favorite subject at school and that she has aspirations of attending an art school upon graduation from high school. She dabbles a bit playing her base guitar and singing and enjoys watching The Mandalorian.
2021 Youth ART Contest Winning Art
Vivian Kinard, 2nd grade
Porter’s Neck Elementary
1 st Place, K-2 Division
“Make a Wish”
Carmen Politis, Kindergarten
College Rd Early Childhood Center (Bellamy)
2 nd Place, K-2 Division
“The Sun of Spring”
Sofiya Girard, 2nd grade
Berean Baptist Academy (Fayetteville, NC)
3 rd Place, K-2 Division
“Springdeer”
Kara Appleton, 2nd grade
Parsley Elementary
Honorable Mention, K-2 Division
”Visiting the Zoo in the Springtime”
Alani Cuthbert, 2nd grade
Cape Fear Center for Inquiry
Honorable Mention, K-2 Division
“Happy Sunset”
Sullivan Prey, Kindergarten
Alderman Elementary
Honorable Mention, K-2 Division
“Sunset Tree”
Graham Wells, 5th grade
Carolina Beach Elementary
1 st Place, 3-5 Division
“Home”
Marie Ko, 5th grade
Marvin Elementary (Waxhaw, NC)
2 nd Place, 3-5 Division
“Mama Dove”
Sophie Gee, 5th grade
Wilmington Academy of Arts and Sciences
3 rd Place, 3-5 Division
“Azalea in Yellow”
Jewel Massie, 5th grade
Berean Baptist Academy
Honorable Mention, 3-5 Division
“View into Spring”
Michelle Park, 4th grade
Berean Baptist Academy
Honorable Mention, 3-5 Division
“Me and the Cardinal”
Julia Gualdi, 4th grade
College Park Elementary
Honorable Mention, 3-5 Division
“Enjoying Downtown”
Ellie Ko, 7th grade
Marvin Ridge Middle School (Waxhaw, NC)
1 st Place, Middle School Division
“preparing for the Parade”
Diane Perez Peralta, 7th grade
Murray Middle School
2 nd Place, Middle School Division
“The Queens’ Lunch”
Ellie Dickenson, 7th grade
Holly Shelter Middle School
3 rd Place, Middle School Division
“Capturing the New Beginnings”
Ellie Lovell, 6th grade
Murray Middle School
Honorable Mention, Middle School Division
“Pollinators”
James Russell, 7th grade
Surf City Middle School
Honorable Mention, Middle School Division
“Fishing with Papa”
Sydney Wills, 7th grade
Berean Baptist Academy
Honorable Mention, Middle School Division
“Tennessee Mountains in the Spring”
Joelle Lowery, 11th grade
North Brunswick High School
1 st Place, High School Division
“in Bloom”
Emma Johnson, 12th grade
Hoggard High School
2 nd Place, High School Division
“Delicate Perch”
Mishelle Carrasco, 12th grade
North Brunswick High School
3 rd Place, High School Division
“Natural Fountain”
Andi Creech, 11th grade
UNC School of the Arts High School
Honorable Mention, High School Division
“Gateway to the Azaleas”
Kiley Honsinger, 9th grade
Ashley High School
Honorable Mention, High School Division
“Wilmington”
Sarah McCroan, 10th grade
Berean Baptist Academy
Honorable Mention, High School Division
“Walking through Spring”
2020: Vivian Kinard, Blair Elementary School (K-2 Elementary School Winner)
2020: Karl Geisler,Wrightsville Beach Elementary School (3-5 Elementary School Winner)
2020: Ellie Ko, Marvin Ridge Middle School (Middle School Winner)
2020: Avery Aguila, Eastern Alamance High School (High School Winner)
2019: Jessie Garriott, Cape Fear Academy (K-2 Elementary School Winner)
2019: Diane Perez Peralta, Bellamy Elementary (3-5 Elementary School Winner)
2019: Ella Johnson, Noble Middle School (Middle School Winner)
2019: Cheyenne Newkirk, Hoggard High School (High School Winner)
2018: Avni Choudepally, Cedar Fork Elementary ( K-2 Elementary School Winner )
2018: Julianna Dickerson, Blair Elementary ( 3-5 Elementary School Winner)
2018: Kate Spivey, Noble Middle School (Middle School Winner)
2018: Katherine Neilsen, Laney High School (High School Winner)
2017: Olivia Brown, Holly Tree Elementary (Elementary School Winner)
2017: Delilah Mills, Cape Fear Academy (Middle School Winner)
2016: Elajandra Torres, Carolina Beach Elementary (Elementary School Winner)
2016: Audrey Mase, Roland-Grise Middle School (Middle School Winner)
2015: Becky Girolami, Parsley Elementary (Elementary School Winner)
2015: Max Brinker, Cape Fear Center For Inquiry (Middle School Winner)
2014: Ruthie Wainwright, Wilmington Academy of Arts and Sciences (Elementary School Winner)
2014: Sylvia Atwood, Cape Fear Academy (Middle School Winner)
2013: Margaret Dill, Cape Fear Academy (Elementary School Winner)
2013: Maddie Porter, Cape Fear Academy (Middle School Winner)
2012: Cameron Holmes, Bellamy Elementary
2011: Lemir Moore, Snipes Academy of Art and Design
2010: Katie Girolami, Cape Fear Academy
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