Contact: Jill Drury, Communication Specialist
JEDrury@dps.k12.oh.us
For Immediate Release

Four students named 2016 YoungArts Winners

The National YoungArts Foundation named four Stivers School for the Arts photography students as 2016 YoungArts Winners. They are among 819 artists chosen from a record-breaking 12,000 applications from 42 states. The foundation recognizes young artists in visual, literary, design and performing arts.

MaKara Blake, grade 11, received an Honorable Mention for her work depicting a series of photos of her brother. Blake receives a $250 prize for her accomplishment and is eligible to attend a regional program in 2016. She hopes to attend YoungArts Los Angeles in February 2016 and plans to further her photography studies in college.

Nyanna Johnson, grade 12, is a Merit winner. Her winning portfolio includes diptych photographs which are one cohesive image created by a series of smaller images. Johnson says she cannot believe that she and her classmates received national recognition.

“It is surreal. I’m really honored to have this experience,” Johnson said.

She, too, is eligible to attend a regional program. Nyanna hopes to attend YoungArts New York in April 2016 alongside two other honored classmates, Sophie Pobuda and Simon Kingston.

Kingston, grade 11, is a Merit winner for his work depicting street scenes and portraits of his younger sister.

“I like to walk around my neighborhood in the Huffman Historic area to capture shots,” Kingston said. “My father’s photography inspired me to start taking pictures.” 

Sophie Pobuda, grade 10, is also a Merit winner. She entered works created without using a camera. Sophie took organic objects like fruits and vegetables to make an impression on paper that was then developed in a darkroom. This is only her second year in photography at school, so to be nationally honored is quite an accomplishment.

The students now have opportunities to work with renowned artists and gain access to scholarships and opportunities to exhibit their work nationally. YoungArts finalists are eligible for nomination as a U.S. Presidential Scholar of the Arts.

-30-

PHOTO CAPTION: Unique perspectives earn Stivers students 2016 YoungArts recognition in photography. (clockwise from upper left) Sophie Pobuda, MaKara Blake, Nyanna Johnson, and Simon Kingston (Photo/Leah Stahl, Stivers School for the Arts)