ROXBURY TOWNSHIP, NJ (Morris County) – Roxbury High School hosted its 2021 ArtROX Invitational virtually Thursday evening. This virtual reception hosted 174 high school and 30 middle school art entries from 16 area high schools and four area middle schools.
Roxbury High Sschool Visual Arts Lead Teacher Renee Zengel shared with 125 invitational viewers, “We are so excited to be able to host this event to celebrate the creative efforts of all the talented young art students. This has been a very trying school year with virtual learning, hybrid schedules, cohorts that are in and out of school, but with all of that difficulty they really pulled through and made some amazing artworks.”
Each high school was allowed to submit 12 works per school while the middle schools could each submit eight pieces of art.
The middle school division was judged by the Roxbury High School National Art Honor Society Officers. Sheryl Peng, one of those officers announced those winners. They were:
- Best in Show: Melody Buccieri, Glen Meadow Middle School, “From My View”
- 1st Place: Jessica Phan, Eisenhower Middle School, “Scattered Pieces”
- 2nd Place: Nicole Velasquez, Eisenhower Middle School, “Gazing Into the World”
- 3rd Place: Emily Freeland, Mount Arlington Public School, “Winter Landscape”
To view the middle school artROX Virtual Invitational submissions, click here.
The high school division was judged by representatives from six colleges: Delaware College of Art and Design (DCAD), Hartford Art School (University of Hartford), Main College of Art & Design (MECA), Montserrat College of Art, New Jersey City University, and William Paterson University. For the category pieces and college awards, all school names were removed from the slideshow for the jurors for an even judging field.
“I know that all the college representatives that judged the categories were so impressed and amazed that it was so difficult to make all of those choices,” said Zengel once the winners were announced.
This year’s winners in the various categories were:
Drawing: B&W
- 1st Place: Abigail Savage, Warren Hills Regional High School, “Light in the Dark”
- 2nd Place: Brianna Lischy, Mt Olive High School, “Through the Looking Glass”
- 3rd Place: Chloe Clancey, Sparta High School, “Dream Series: Unknowable”
Drawing: Color
- 1st Place: Patience Hevi, Vernon Township High School, “Conflict Within”
- 2nd Place: Alexa Hernandez, Roxbury High School, “Cape May”
- 3rd Place: Angelina D’Erasmo, High Point Regional High School, “Corpo”
Painting
- 1st Place: Tara Truong, Bridgewater-Raritan High School, “Elle Revasse”
- 2nd Place: LuJia Liao, Ridge High School, “zǎoshang hǎo”
- 3rd Place: Sarth Kheni, Bridgewater-Raritan High School, “Sublime”
Ceramics
- 1st Place: Noelani, Felix, Delaware Valley High School, “Crystal Vase”
- 2nd Place: Melora LaVigne, Warren Hills Regional High School, “Tortle”
- 3rd Place: Madelyn Baxter, Bridgewater-Raritan High School, “Hanagusami”
Sculpture
- 1st Place: Heather Maxwell, Sparta High School, “Virus”
- 2nd Place: Taige Kellenberger, Sparta High School, “The Lies We Tell Ourselves”
- 3rd Place: Fiona Cummings, Wallkill Valley Regional High School, “Morning Sun”
Photography
- 1st Place: Connor Nelson, Mt Olive High School, “Drowning in Isolation”
- 2nd Place: Kaitlyn Cioc, Sparta High School, “Serenity”
- 3rd Place: Megana Gummadi, Ridge High School, “The Unseen”
Digital Media
- 1st Place: Sheryl Peng, Roxbury High School, “Digital Still Life with Figure & Skeleton”
- 2nd Place: Aidan Crysler, Roxbury High School, “Summer Slump”
- 3rd Place: Mackenzie Zuercher, Boonton High School, “Self Reflection”
Mixed Media
- 1st Place: Rachel Young, Sparta High School, “The Housewife”
- 2nd Place: Libby Kercher, Mt Olive High School, “No Milk in March”
- 3rd Place: Meredith Thayler, Bridgewater-Raritan High School, “A Night Breeze”
Open
- 1st Place: Alexa Hernandez, Roxbury High School, “Queen Bee”
- 2nd Place: Kristina Leonard, Wallkill Valley Regional High School, “Tracks to the Unknown”
- 3rd Place: Sheryl Peng, Roxbury High School, “Figure Study with Fabric”
Best in Show
- Angelina Dorry, Mt Olive High School, “Anorexia”
To view the high school artROX Virtual Invitational submissions, click here.
In addition to the artwork placements, a number of students were awarded scholarships. The Roxbury High School scholarship recipients were Alexa Hernandez (DCAD – $2,000), Aidan Crysler (DCAD – $2,000 and Hartford Art School – $23,000 per year), Sheryl Peng (DCAD – $2,000 and Hartford Art School – $23,000 per year), and Jessica Vassoler (William Paterson University – Talent Scholarship).
To view the virtual invitational, click here.
