Michael Bai ‘20
The Dora Khayatt Art Prize recognizes students’ achievements in the visual arts. Nine Upper School students have been awarded this prestigious prize for their pieces in three possible categories: 3-D Design, 2-D Design, and Photography.
Members of the art department praise the students’ initiative in entering the contest. Hilary Hutchison, Upper School 3-D art teacher, said, “It takes a lot of bravery for students to put themselves out there to enter a contest that is blind jury. I’m proud of the students who took a chance.” Hutchison also notes that the contestants were responsible for the quality of their submissions and their contest applications. She explained, “We [the department] encourage students to participate, but we are not doing the work for them. The students have to fill out the forms, they have to get their work prepared and exhibition-ready, and they have to put it in the gallery.”
Each prize winner displayed their own unique artwork across the three categories. Jessica Hao ‘19, who was awarded second prize in 2-D Design, said, “I submitted three pieces of artwork that I drew outside of school. They’re oil paintings of portraits [in which] I combine a few images. I put my own twist on it and I create new portraits out of original photographs.”
Ivan Puskovitch ‘19, who was awarded second prize in Photography, said, “The photo I submitted was a picture of Jonathan Valdes, a freshman at the Episcopal Academy, doing a backstroke start off of the wall in the Episcopal Academy pool. We named it ‘Depth’.” Puskovitch continued that, “Underneath the water I would hold the camera in a plexiglass box and take a photo of him as he’s going through the water after he starts the backstroke start. A coordinated strobe light on the side of the pool would go off when I clicked the button of the camera, so we’d get the picture with the light flashed out from the background of Valdes.”
Taylor Schaible ‘20, who was awarded first prize in 3-D Design, said, “I took woodworking with Mr. Binstock, and I really enjoyed it, and so I made a box in that class.” Schaible was also inspired by the background and goals of the Dora Khayatt fund. He explained, “I heard the contest was going on, and I looked up Dora Khayatt and her background, and I found it really inspiring. I thought it was a good thing to do. It’s a very prestigious art contest in our school. It’s just cool to participate in and be a part of.”
In addition, these prize winners acknowledge the support and encouragement of the art department given towards their participation. Hao attributes her passion for drawing to the opportunities given by the department and said, “I was in the J-Term with Mr. Sigel and Ms. Hutchison, Art Revolution, my freshman year. We went to different museums and part of our J-Term was to keep a sketchbook with us at all times to draw anything. That inspired my love for drawing anything and anywhere.” Puskovitch especially emphasizes the guidance of the art teachers for his submission. He explained, “I didn’t really participate in the arts program at EA in my entire time being here since sixth grade. I decided to take Photography in the first semester because I had a lot of fun with it in Foundations [during] freshman year.” Puskovitch added that, “I didn’t even think I was going to enter Dora Khayatt until Mr. Leslie and Mr. Sigel actually came to me personally outside of class to say, ‘Here’s a submission form. If you are interested in submitting for Dora Khayatt, sign it, fill it all out, and put it behind your picture in the art gallery, and then we’ll add it to the contest.’ In fact, they were the only reason I was entered into the contest.” Schaible holds a similar view as Puskovitch and said, “Going in, I didn’t know anything about woodworking or anything like that. He’s taught me so much, and I would go and meet with him during frees and everything.”
Currently, the artwork of all contestants is held at the Crawford Campus Center Gallery.