Regional Gold Key Award goes to Salida High School Student
SHS Visual Arts student, Opal Juba’s stippling piece titled “Jackson” was awarded a Regional Gold Key Award, for the state of Colorado in recent competition. The award honors artwork demonstrating the highest level of achievement in originality, personal voice, and technical skill.
Salida High School art student Opal Juba poses with her Gold Key Award winning entry “Jackson” shown at right. Photo couresty Salida High School
Juba’s 16” x 20” ink stippling, created from a photo she took of her cousin, Jackson, (requiring nearly 3 months to complete), was on display last Saturday, February 17, at the Denver Art Museum. “Stippling is a drawing technique in which areas of light and shadow are created using nothing but dots,” according to Artists Network.
Janine Frazee, Juba’s high school art teacher, said “This is such a high honor for Opal. I am extremely proud of her for all her hard work and dedication to the Arts in the SHS Art Program and for winning such a prestigious award; she is so deserving.” Opal plans to pursue a degree in Art Education at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
A staggering 20,000 pieces of artwork are submitted regionally to the National Art Education Association’s Scholastic Awards Arts Competition. Out of the 20,000 pieces, only 5 percent receive a Gold Key Award, which is the highest honor one can receive at the regional level.
The Scholastic Awards competition receives approximately 320,000 pieces of work nationally, where 16 pieces will be selected for high honors and large scholarship awards at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Featured image: Opal Juba’s Gold Key Award piece “Jackson”. Image courtesy of the artist