Representative Kevin Yoder (R-KS) announced the winner of the 2014 3rd District Congressional Art Competition is Jessi Sailer, a senior at Shawnee Mission West High School, for her winning art entry "Freedom." Jessi used photography as her medium and said, "Freedom is something everyone desires. This photo is meant to be a self-portrait expressing my own freedom by dancing." Each year, the winner of the Congressional Art Competition has their entry hung in the halls of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center for the following year, among some of the best high school art work in the country.
"I want to congratulate Jessi for winning this year's 3rd District Congressional Art Competition. Her entry "Freedom' was chosen out of several other fantastic entries," stated Representative Kevin Yoder. "The 3rd Congressional District has a large number of very talented young artists. I want to thank every student who submitted an art entry for their passion, and I thank our many wonderful art educators for the important work they do as well."
"In addition to Jessi, I'd like to congratulate our three Honorable Mentions from this year for their exceptional talents as well: Haley Johnson, senior at Shawnee Mission East High School, for the entry "Broken Self'; Maridee Weber, junior at Mill Valley High School, for the entry "Cat Collage'; and Christopher Cambrice, senior at Shawnee Mission North High School, for the entry "Schizophrenia.' All three submitted remarkable art entries and received Honorable Mention recognition for their work.
"The People's Choice Award," gives community members the opportunity to share with me their favorite piece of art. Garrett Flottman from Blue Valley North High School is the 2014 "People's Choice Award" winner for his piece "The Sea is Calling."
"Thank you to all the students who entered their work in this year's Congressional Art Competition, and to the judges who had the difficult task of picking just one winner."
The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982 to provide an opportunity for Members of Congress to encourage and recognize the artistic talents of the high school students in their districts. Since then, over 650,000 high school students have been involved with the nationwide competition. The winning student art will hang in the U.S. Capitol with the winning art selected from all Congressional Districts across the country from June 2014 through June 2015. Jessi's winning art was chosen from amongst all high school art students who entered art within the 3rd Congressional District; including public and private high schools, as well as home school students.