Pinedale High School project wins 1st place in ‘Traveling Trout’ art competition
by National Museum of Wildlife Art
May 1, 2013
Eight Wyoming high school art programs have received cash prizes through the "Traveling Trout" statewide art competition offered by the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole.
Winners of the competition, which challenged the 37 participating Wyoming schools to turn plain white fiberglass trout into distinctive works of art, were announced April 26 at the Wyoming High School Art Symposium in Casper, with the entire "school" of fish to be exhibited at the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s outdoor Sculpture Trail May 4 – October 6, 2013, before traveling to other venues including the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne and the Community Fine Arts Center in Rock Springs.
Judges awarded first place and a prize of $7,000 to Pinedale High School for its ceramic mosaic trout artwork titled "Time to Make Waves"; Encampment High School received $5,000 for second place with "Metamorphofish," and third place and $2,000 went to Powell High School for its artwork "The Escape of Adaptation." Honorable mentions go to Midwest High School, Mountain View High School, Little Snake River High School, Cheyenne South High School, and Niobrara County High School. The five schools receiving honorable mentions were awarded $500 each. All prizes go to the schools’ art programs with the cash to be used at the art teachers’ discretion to supplement their regular art budget.
The trout art was judged on originality of the idea, execution of the idea, and overall impact of the piece. "All the winners were exceptional, but Pinedale’s sculpture stood out in the sophistication of the design and handling of the media. It also had an important environmental message about water quality," said Jane Lavino, Sugden Family Curator of Education & Exhibits for the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
"If our children are a measure of our future, Wyoming's future will follow a path of creativity and imagination," said Wyoming Representative Tim Stubson of Casper, one of the judges for the competition. Said Ashley Carlisle, associate professor of sculpture for the University of Wyoming Department of Art and another Traveling Trout judge, "Originality and material transcendence is so important in art today, and our Wyoming students have really shown their ability and promise in these pieces."
Sponsors for the "Traveling Trout" program include The Friess Family Foundation, Tally & Bill Mingst, Clarke Nelson, Cynthia & Dick Quast and Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund.
In addition to its busy art exhibition schedule, the National Museum of Wildlife Art offers a full schedule of year-round community programming, with some 100 free events including art-making activities, films, lectures, "edutainment," Art in Action guest artists workshops, cultural fun on the museum’s new Sculpture Trail and much more. The museum also provides free high-quality educational enrichment for school children, from online and onsite curriculum for teachers to student art contests and thematic school tours. And the museum becomes a vibrant community gathering space during popular social happenings like its monthly First Sundays and Mix’d Media events.
A member of the Museums West consortium and accredited by the American Association of Museums, the museum, officially designated the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States by an act of Congress in 2008, provides an exciting calendar of exhibitions from its permanent collection and changing exhibitions from around the globe. A complete schedule of exhibitions and events is available online at www.wildlifeart.org. The museum is also active on Facebook and on Twitter at @WildlifeArtJH.
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