Five student artists at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts were included in the Third Annual Historic Cane Hill Arkansas High School Artists Competition and Exhibition with one student earning special recognition.
Danielle Luyet, a senior from Conway, was awarded the Juror’s Prize, a $1,000 cash prize for her piece “Night Life in Petroleum Green.” Other ASMSA students who had artwork chosen for the exhibition included seniors Skylar Boone of Benton, Winnie Smith of Vandervort, Ella Suffren of Hot Springs and Curren French of Hardy.
The competition featured artwork from 66 high school students from across the state. To view the virtual gallery that includes all of the students’ works, visit https://asmsa.me/canehillexhibit.
Luyet said she was shocked when she found out she had won the Juror’s Prize in the competition. “I thought that the work of my peers was really well done when I viewed the virtual exhibit, so I felt honored to be chosen from such competitive work,” she said.
“Night Life in Petroleum Green” is a 22-inch by 30-inch acrylic painting on paper. Luyet said it explores the abstract concept of exhaustion through a representation of eerie gas-station lighting and the burden of the night shift.
“Being a student can often mean having trouble balancing work with life. I wanted to portray this struggle in a setting out of the classroom, so I decided to illustrate a woman working the night shift,” Luyet said.
She started painting in a Fundamentals of Painting course taught by ASMSA art instructor Brad Wreyford in the first semester of her junior year.
“Before that, I focused largely on drawings, but I’ve received more recognition and enjoyed my work more through my painting journey,” Luyet said.
Historic Cane Hill is an organization dedicated to the preservation of the historically significant structures of Cane Hill as well as western Washington County in Northwest Arkansas. The organization seeks to build on the legacies of architecture, education and the arts by providing programs and a venue to experience art and culture rooted in the history of the region and the Ozark Mountains. To learn more about the organization, visit historiccanehillar.org.