Tracy Gwinn’s expectations weren’t very high when she dropped her piece off for the Fourth District Congressional Art Competition.
A member of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts’ Class of 2019, Gwinn said other contestants were dropping off their pieces at the same time and several had already dropped off their entries.
“I saw of couple of other pieces when I dropped mine off. They were really good,” Gwinn said.
Fortunately for Gwinn, however, the judges disagreed with her – at least enough to award her first place for her piece titled “Portrait 2.” The black and white drawing is the portrait of a man she drew during the second semester of her junior year.
“I worked on it in my free time initially, but I turned it in as an assignment for my capstone project,” she said. “Everyone really liked it. I compared it with my other pieces. It was in my top 3. I like the details I got on his face.”
The portrait is inspired by a drawing she saw online. She doesn’t know the subject.
“I prefer not knowing the subject. If I do know them, I’m always extremely critical and think that it doesn’t look like them. Not knowing them gives me a little bit of leeway,” she said.
The Fourth District Congressional Art Competition winners were announced in May. It is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman and is part of the larger national Congressional Art Competition. A second ASMSA student also placed in the competition. Sydney Harris, a junior from North Little Rock, placed fifth.
First-place winners are selected from each U.S. congressional district. Their artwork is then displayed for a year in a hall at the U.S. Capitol.
“Knowing that my piece will be hanging in the congressional hall in the Capitol where congressmen walk every day is really exciting,” Gwinn said.
She will get to see exactly where her portrait hangs in the Capitol during a trip to Washington D.C. All of the winners receive a trip to the nation’s capital for a reception and other events. The trip is being held June 22-26.
“I’m still in shock by it. That is a really cool opportunity,” said Gwinn of Mount Ida.
Her mother is going on the trip with her. They are planning a trip to visit the Smithsonian Institution sometime during the trip.
Gwinn is going to attend the Savannah School of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga., this fall. She will be studying animation, leaning toward 2D animation.
“There are a lot of jobs in 3D animation, but I love character animation. I grew up watching a lot of cartons when I was little, and I still love animated movies,” she said.