Scholastic awards gold medals to Monument artists
Great Barrington — Monument Mountain Regional High School is well known for its art program, for graduating students who land in art schools or use their talents in other careers. A walk through Monument’s halls confirms it; art is everywhere, and it is good. But this year has seen a new level of achievement; every year Monument students compete in the renowned Scholastic Publishing’s Art & Writing Awards, and do “pretty well,” said Neel Webber, Director of Monument’s Art Department. But this year, Monument art students scored four gold key medals, Webber added. “We’ve never had so many winners.”
News of the awards came, however, at the moment Berkshire Hills Regional School District proposed trimming its budget by, among other things, reducing one art teacher at the high school, devastating the art community at the school, and diminishing the program’s offerings. The cuts were the result of painstaking and thoughtful analysis, according to the district and Monument Principal Marianne Young. Webber agreed.
A public hearing to voice concerns about the school budget is set for 7 p.m. Thursday night (February 26) at Monument Valley Middle School’s auditorium.
The gold key medalists will compete regionally — from Ohio to Maine — before they are eligible to compete nationally. Their work is heading to Boston today for consideration.
The Scholastic Awards “began as a small writing contest with a $5 prize and six winning applicants in 1923,” according to Scholastic’s website. “Today, more than 90,000 teens in grades 7 through 12 from around the nation annually submit more than 185,000 works of art and writing in 28 categories. Winning students earn opportunities for recognition, exhibition, publication and scholarships.”
“The program has been credited with identifying early talent in generations of America’s cultural icons, including Truman Capote (1932), Richard Avedon (1941), Andy Warhol (ca. 1945), Sylvia Plath (1947), Robert Redford (1954) and Zac Posen (1998), each of whom won the award when they were in high school.”
Richard Avedon called his Award “the defining moment of my life.”
“Student works are evaluated by industry leaders and exhibited in New York City venues as well as cities across the country through the traveling exhibit, ART.WRITE.NOW. These exhibitions give audiences the opportunity to see the work of the nation’s top young artists and writers, inspiring appreciation for the teens’ maturity, talent and originality.”
For more information, go to: www.artandwriting.org.
— H.B.
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BRPC surveys reasons for decline in young adult population
Pittsfield — Census data analyzed and interpreted by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission indicates population loss in the Berkshires over several decades, and projects a continued loss of population into the foreseeable future.
“Over the last two decades, the majority of this loss has been among young adults,” according to Mark Maloy, BRPC’s GIS, Data and IT Manager.
To minimize this loss, the BRPC has developed a survey for young adults to understand what brings them to the Berkshires, what causes them to stay, and what drives them away. Without this age group, school enrollments will drop and employment will decline when Baby Boomers retire, among a host of other problems.
The survey can be filled out by those 18 to 39, and takes about 5 minutes to complete. Pass it along to others in this age group who have also lived in the Berkshires at some point in their lives. To participate in the survey, click here.
— H.B.
