Maine students fly high in art contest

AUBURN — Nine students from six districts received awards Saturday for their projects at this year’s Maine PTA Reflections Awards Ceremony at the Auburn Public Library.

There were 124 students participating in the event, submitting projects based on the theme “Let your imagination fly” in four different categories:

• photography;

• literature;

• visual arts; and

• dance choreography.

Virginia Mott, president of the Maine PTA, and Julie Frum, chairwoman of the PTA Reflections Art Program, hosted the event and presented awards to the students.

Frum said her favorite aspect of the Reflections competitions is that students can “express themselves in a variety of artforms.”

There were four age groups represented in the competition:

• primary, grades kindergarten to two;

• intermediate, grades three to five;

• middle school, grades six to eight; and

• high school, grades nine to 12.

Each winner was presented with an award and asked to read an explanation of their piece and why they went in that direction with the given topic.

Aiden Day, first-place winner in the middle school photography group, titled his picture “Freeze.”

“It seems impossible but is completely real,” he said of the work, explaining how the different colors and angles made the photo look distorted and faked when it was just capturing a real moment.

First place in the high school photography division was Gardner Reed, who submitted a photo titled “Calm Ambiguity.” His goal was to have each viewer use their imagination to interpret the photo’s meaning.

“It is the sun or the moon, a sunset or sunrise?” he said.

Submissions for the visual arts category ranged from sketches to paintings to collages. Kyle Austin, middle school division winner, made a collage of his pet gecko, imagining he’s flying.

“Doesn’t he look happy?” Austin joked.

This was also the first year that the Maine PTA Conference included the Dance Choreography category. Gabrielle Groves, a fifth-grader from Bryant Pond, was the first-place winner in the category.

Winners of the 2016 Maine PTA Reflections contest

Photography

• Aiden Day, Middle School Division, “Freeze”

• Gardner Reed, High School Division, “Calm Ambiguity”

Literature

• Lindsey Pellett, Intermediate Division, “Soaring”

• Alexis DeLaite, Middle School Division, “A World Without War”

Visual Arts

• Brenna Wilson, Primary Division, “Cooke’s Imagination”

• Evan Gilheany, Intermediate Division, “Ram”

• Kyle Austin, Middle School Division, “Blaze”

• Sarah O’Connor, High School Division