The 42nd Hawaii Scholastic Awards, held Sunday afternoon at Honolulu Hale, recognized over twenty-five Iolani artists (some more than once) in the fields of ceramics, photography, drawing, painting and sculpture.
Ninth grader Jessica Okamura won a prestigious American Visions award for her work with teacher Holly Chung.
Gold Key winners were Alexa Hettwer, Uyanga Tsedev, Amber Turner, Michelle Fordice, Leigh Okimoto, Allison Hasegawa, Kimberly Okazaki, Christopher Fong and Jenna Kappel.
Their teachers were Holly Chung, Janis Uehara, and, from last year, Chris Fong cited his previous teacher, Mrs. Judith Wigren-Slack.
Winners of Visions and Gold Key awards have their work sent to New York City to be judged against other art from around the nation.
Regional Silver Key finalists included Amber Turner (for the second time), Sarah Kujubu, Jessica Sasaki, Nathaniel Anderson (twice), Annika Lee, Jonah Okano, Sheryl Baptista, Michelle Fordice, Michael Igawa, Ryan Kammo (twice), Daniel Marks, Priya Prins, Elyse Oyama, Leah Schrectenthaler, Nash Witten and Jarvis Nohara.
They were taught by Ryan Roberts, Alison Uyehara, and David Roberts, as well as Holly Chung and Janis Uehara.
A large crowd of family and friends attended the awards ceremony before moving to the atrium of Honolulu Hale to see the works themselves. Iolani art teachers helped extensively in the organization and with the display logistics of the event.
