TX04 Art Competition - VOTE for your favorite pieces!

Dear john,

Each Spring, Congress participates in the Congressional Art Competition, which invites students grades 9-12 to participate. For 40 years, the nationwide high school art competition has been sponsored by the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, with participation by hundreds of thousands of highly talented high school students from all over the United States.

We would like to encourage and recognize artistic talent in Texas' Fourth Congressional District, and will select one winning piece to be proudly displayed in the United States Capitol for a year, and four runner up pieces to be displayed in our four offices located across our district and in Washington, D.C.

Please take a moment to view the artwork below, with the student's description provided and cast your vote here for the winning pieces!

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITES HERE

Elephant's Tranquility

Medium: Acrylic

Description: "There is a blue-grey elephant standing in front of a waterfall while holding a pink flower in its nose."

My Sister

Medium: Pencil

Description: "My sister is sitting beside the window.”

Eiffel Tower & Blue Bonnets

Medium: Water Color

Description: “The Eiffel Tower. I tried to make it at a certain angle to get the flowers at the bottom of the tower.”

Sounds of the Soul

Medium: Acrylic & Gold Leaf

Description: “This piece is a 20x26 mack of acrylic paint and gold leaf. It is of a girl who is surrounded by whales swimming around her head with a gold circle behind her. Whales represent the music in nature that we don’t always acknowledge but is always there. This piece is made to highlight the beauty of music and how it is around us constantly.”

Isn't She Pretty In Pink

Medium: Acrylic

Description: “An acrylic painting on canvas with all pink tones with fake red flowers pushed through the holes in the canvas. A girl is shown drinking a pink drink as she looks outward away from the viewer. The painting is ultimately an encouragement towards modest femininity and beauty.”

Life of Gomphrena

Medium: Mixed Media

Description: “A field of gomphrenas which represents immortality and endless love/life due to its ability to last decades when dried out. Along with a blue and pink sky with clouds.”

Gone With The Wind

Medium: Acrylic

Description: “In the middle, where you can see a light casting on a little girl. The little girl is full of colors and has a book titled, “Gone with the Wind” by Stephanie Alvarez. Although surrounding her are all colors black and white with a ripped American flag on the bottom right, the Statue of Liberty’s head lying to the side lifelessly, and a broken house on the right with rocks and floating particles around her. This symbolizes how the younger generation is very naïve and are all bright with hope, while in the real world, it’s all dark and broken and children don’t know that.”

The Mascot of Texas

Medium: Prisma Color

Description: “It is a greatly detailed bull skull with crack and flowers growing on it.”

The American Dream

Medium: Computer Graphic

Description: “My artwork depicts a neck-high portrait of a teenager dressed in a blue hoodie. He is placing a red star on his face, which is shown to have many red, white, and blue stars already across it. The background is an abstract interpretation of an American spirit, again represented through red, white, and blue colors.”

Crossing the Threshold

Medium: Colored pencil & white gel pen

Description: “This art piece portrays a girl’s face rising after being submerged in water and surrounded by bubbles. The girl’s face is serene while the bubbles create a sense of movement and life. This piece is an abstract representation of the American Dream as the submerged girl symbolizes struggles and sacrifices made by ordinary civilians to achieve success and prosperity. The bubbles symbolize the obstacles and challenges encountered along the way, by also the potential for growth and progress. Overall, this work is a representation of resilience, hope, and determination that are at the heart of the American Dream.”

Bird's Eye View

Medium: Acrylic

Description: “The world is from a bird’s eye view where even the largest bodies of water appear miniscule. Large-scale environmental degradation is kept from the bird by clouds that partially obscure the vast, dominating landscapes. The vista is attractive, but the intricate patterns in the landscape make it difficult to conserve biodiversity and the habitats of wildlife. Choosing important species, such as birds, will help ensure that biodiversity in a region is protected. Bird’s eyes can disclose broad patterns of their biology and behavior, as this information might serve as a potential guide for future conservation efforts. Because of the loss of biodiversity caused by armed conflict, the environment is badly harmed. A bird doesn’t have to work hard to preserve the environment thanks to IRC/IHL guidelines. Recommendation that 18 states that each party to a non-international armed conflict is encouraged to apply all or some of the provisions of international humanitarian law that protect the environment in international armed conflicts that conflict. The environment is protected from further deterioration and the effort is to preserve nature’s beauty through these severe regulations on protecting the environment through restrictions on weapons, actions, the respect of rules, and education. The medium used to create this piece is done by painting through acrylics.”

Listen To The Sound of My Cry

Medium: Oil Painting

Description: “Everyone has the most helpless time and seems full of darkness. The sorrowful boy has his own problems and feels powerlessness, but when he starts to pray to God again, the light comes, and God takes away his sorrow. I want to express my faith in difficult times in this painting. Contrast is the major element to deliver the complex emotions.”

The Crossover

Medium:

Description: “The artwork is my auto portrait which represents the history of my origin and residence countries. The composition includes overlaps, crossovers, and repeated pieces of my original photo. There are different ethnic Russian (Balalaika, national costume, Kremlin) and American (Cowboy’s helmet, eagle, football, boot, Empire State Building, and Route 66 sign) symbols.”

PJ

Medium: Oil

Description: “A dog portrait with bright lemons, limes, and grapefruit surrounding the dog.”

Delayed Gratification

Medium: Oil Paint

Description: “In this painting, I portray my grandmother as she crochets- an indulgence and pastime her younger self would have never imagined. Shown in the background of my painting, my grandmother crafts her own identity, coming from a place of attending the top women’s university in Korea to laboring as an immigrant nurse un the United States to be able to send her kids to private schools in Texas. Because of the years of endless working, my grandmother can now enjoy the simple pleasures in life that time could not have afforded her before. In the background, I wrote words of faith in Korean that comforted my grandmother through the journey to provide for her family. I hope to honor my grandmother and her heritage through this piece.”

Christina

Medium: Oil Paint

Description: “’Christina’ is an oil paint portrait of a Korean girl. She has light skin and dark brown eyes. She has a dark medium-length hair and bangs. She is wearing a plain white t-shirt against a dark gray background.”

The Paris Tower

Medium: Prisma Color

Description: “I decided to make the tower in Paris to represent Texas. I chose to do this because I believe it represents Texas.”

Composite

Medium: Gouache & colored pencil

Description: “A figure made up of various objects looking into a mirror.”

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