Works by three Warren Central High School art students have received top regional honors and will advance to the national lev

The winners

• Gold Key — Seniors Kate Akers and Kyley Wells and junior David Young.

• Silver Key — Senior Kate Akers (two), juniors Catherine Brown and Adrienne Coburn, sophomore Christine Councell, freshman Sallie Lin (two) and senior Turner Reeves.

• Honorable Mention — Sophomore Chasity Barnes (two), juniors Catherine Brown and Stephen Hensley, senior Diana Hubris, sophomores Damien Jones and Nikki Longmire, freshman Julie Matson and senior Turner Reeves.

If you go

Mississippi Museum of Art, 380 S. Lamar St. in Jackson, through April 18. Admission is free. Museum hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday..

Seniors Kate Akers and Kyley Wells, along with junior David Young, are Gold Key winners in the 2010 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition, sponsored by The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a nonprofit based in New York.

The Gold Key award is the highest at the regional level. Other regional awards are the Silver Key, Honorable Mention and American Visions & Voices nominees, also called Best of Show.

The competition recognizes achievements in the arts by students in grades 7-12. In the regional contest, WCHS art instructor Nancy Mitchell said, more than 2,000 entries were submitted in painting, drawing, mixed media, photography, sculpture, graphic design, animation and textile fiber design. Jonathan Hart and Susan Causey also teach art.

Kate’s winning piece was a sculpture of a building from the comic book “Bizenghast.” She also entered two paintings into the contest, and both won a Silver Key. Kate is the daughter of Stephen and Janet Akers, also an artist. 

Kyley’s award-winning piece is a sequential pastel she calls “Antsy.”

“I like ants,” she said. “They just look cute.” She is the daughter of Krista Carter.

David, the son of Chris and Becky Young, won for his ink drawing of birds. “I like birds and nature, and I found a still-life that I liked and went on from there,” he said.

The students’ works, along with other winners from across the state, are on display through April 18 at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson. After that, the pieces will head to New York City for the national contest and will be on display this summer. From there, a gold medal, an American Visions & Voices medal and a silver medal will be awarded.

WCHS was the only school in Warren County that participated in the contest, which is open to all schools. Guidelines for next year’s awards will be available October 1.

The contest began in 1923 and, since, 12 million students have participated and $20 million in scholarships have been awarded.

Contact Manivanh Chanprasith at mchan@vicksburgpost.com