LOCAL YOUTH SWEEP NATIONAL ART AWARDS
by Rita Vermillion

On Wednesday, October 17, Bob Travers, who teaches Drawing and Painting at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts, received a phone call that every teacher cherishes.  He was notified that four of his young arts students had won awards in a national arts contest.

Earlier in October eight students submitted artwork to the NRA 20th Annual Youth Wildlife Art Contest. Categories were Grades 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12.  There were over 830 total entries nationwide with twelve possible awards.  Black Mountain Center for the Arts students garnered 3 of the 12 awards, plus an Honorable Mention.  Students who entered were Will Mims, Caroline Roy, and Benjamin Wagner in Grades 1-3; Gabrielle Marshall, Dawson Mims, Ethan Robinson, and Adam Wagner in Grades 4-6; and Austin Maynor in Grades 7-9.   Austin said of how much he learned from the experience, “My motto has been that I learn by my mistakes.  You can’t put a price on learning. Even if there wasn’t any prize in it, I still enjoyed doing it because I learned.”   

The contest is open to students in grades 1-12, including home-schooled children.  Entries could portray any North American game bird or animal that can be legally hunted or trapped; however, endangered species and non-game animals were not eligible subjects.  One entry per student could be submitted in any medium using original composition.  Entrants could use photographs for reference, but tracing or copying from an existing work was not permitted.  Travers had to sign for each piece to attest to its originality.  Entries were judged on effort, creativity, anatomical accuracy, and composition. The contest was supported through a generous gift from Jim Broering, President of AcuSport Corporation, for the creation of the James and Kathleen Broering Endowment.  Judges were J. R. Robbins and Harry Jaecks, both professional artists.

Out of the eight entries from Black Mountain, an astonishing four received national awards. Winners were: First Place Grades 1-3: Will Mims; First Place Grades 4-6: Ethan Robinson; Second Place Grades 4-6: Dawson Mims; Honorable Mention Grades 4-6: Gabrielle Marshall.  First, Second and Third Places in each category received monetary awards.  To view the work of all the entrants, go to www.nrahq.org/youth/wildlife.asp.

According to the website,  “Every year the quality of artwork improves. This year was no exception. The judges had a difficult time sorting through hundreds of preeminent pieces to find a winner. There were some, though, that really stood out. This was the first year that Ethan Robinson entered the contest. The Black Mountain, North Carolina, native won first place for Category II and this was Robinson's first-ever painting.
“‘It took about one or two months to do my painting," 11-year-old Robinson said. "It took a very long time because I put a bunch of detail into it. I wanted to do something that looked like it was from nature, like it actually came from the wilderness. The wilderness is not always pretty. Sometimes it's dirty, sometimes it's raggedy -- it comes in all different shapes and sizes. That's what I tried to show in my picture.’”

Travers commented, “I’m incredibly proud of the work these kids have done over the past four months that they have been working on this competition.  They definitely put their best effort forward, which is shown by the number of winners.”  Travers, an M.F.A. graduate of the Pratt Institute, turned his art career around in the “90’s, from commercial art to wildlife art.  His own paintings have won national awards, graced magazine covers, illustrated books, and inspired his students and those who appreciate the craft with which he works.   He began teaching at The Black Mountain Center for the Arts, located at 225 W. State Street in the Old City Hall, in 2007.   Currently he teaches six classes a week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to all ages from children age 7 to adults.