Congratulations to the Wakefield Photographers who triumphed in every category of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust Photo competition! This competition celebrates the beauty of our community and is open to anyone aged 16 and older, meaning our talented students were up against adult amateur photographers from across Northern Virginia. Their stunning photos are featured on the NVCT website.

Winners:

People in the Outdoors (swept the entire category!)

• First Place: Walking on Sunshine by Andi Cass
• Runner Up: Day in the Life by Karen Mines
• Honorable Mention: Happy Hammock by Lucas Lopez

Smartphone Snaps

• Honorable Mention: Float on By by Eitan Polanco

Spring Renewal

• First Place: Pistil by Siofra Zanol

Streams, Creeks, and Water

• Honorable Mention: Green Horizons by Rachel Zee

Their beautiful photos will be on display at The Workhouse Arts Center, Building 11, 9518 Workhouse Wy, Lorton, VA 22079, USA from June 14th through the 22nd.

We are pleased to announce that the Wakefield AP Art students will be showcasing their artwork in an exclusive exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington (MOCA). The exhibition will be held from April 30th to May 4th, with MOCA open to visitors from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM each day.

We cordially invite you to visit the exhibition and appreciate the students’ artwork in a professional gallery setting. While we may be partial, we believe their creations are truly remarkable.

Additionally, please be aware that Arlington’s Spring Market will take place at MOCA on Saturday, May 4th, from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM. Due to this event, parking will be limited, and visitors are advised to park on the surrounding streets. We encourage you to attend, enjoy the market, and support both our students and local artists.

Wakefield artists have just won 13 National Scholastic Art Medals! This is all time record number for Wakefield!

Gold Medal Winners:
Ian Alcorn, Photography “Pearly Whites”
Mphatso Phiri, Photography, “The Goodbye”
Fernanda Vazquez, Photography, “The Warmest Blue”
Allegra Vena, Ceramics and Glass, “Veil of Conformity”

Silver Medal Winners:
Lina Alvarado, Drawing and Illustration, “Brown Silvers”
Kylie Anderson, Ceramics and Glass, “Pomegranate Box”
August Court, Ceramics and Glass, “The Odd Egg Out”
Jackson Montague, Photography, “Gondola”
Finn Sherlick, Photography, “Bernina Express”
Allegra Vena, Sculpture, “Ringing Out”

Portfolio Winners:
Mphatso Phiri- National Silver Medal Photography Portfolio, “In God’s Hands”
Eitan Polanco, National Honorable Mention Photography Portfolio, “The Sound of Silence”
Yaninne Tapia Salas, National Honorable Mention Ceramics Portfolio, “Rabbits Galore”

These Scholastic Portfolio Medals are particularly special.

A Scholastic portfolio consists of 6 works of art that have a cohesive theme showing the vision and talent of the artist, the culmination of 4 years of art, and is accompanied by an artist’s statement. Mphatso Phiro was 1 of only 12 National Silver Medal portfolios awarded this year. This award also comes with a $1000 Cash Scholarship.

Eitan Polanco and Yaninne Tapia Salas won 2 of only 50 Honorable Mention portfolios awarded this year.

These National Medal Winners will receive their medals shortly and all Gold Medalists and Silver Medal Portfolio winners are invited to Carnegie Hall to be honored in the National Ceremony in June.

The results for the 2025 Regional Scholastic Art Awards are in and our amazing Wakefield Art students claim a whopping 546 Awards! We also picked up 38 Portfolio awards!

Portfolios are a thematic body of 6 works that is a visual culmination of 4 years of Art and is limited to Seniors.

In total, our students won 187 individual Gold Keys, 124 Silver Keys, and 197 Honorable Mentions. They also won 32 Gold Keys and 6 Silver Keys for their Art portfolios.

One Wakefield art student received the prestigious American Vision Award. Morgan Heyck-Williams won for a second time (she also won American Visions in her Freshman year) for her illustration “Drowning” (teacher is Nancy Flores). There are only 5 American Visions Awards chosen each year from the Scholastic Gold Key winners and these are considered Best in Show!

The full list of students who won awards is shared below.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GZAKxeplJXvgbln31ML-KMo69ms2NOobbJyDc6XYwxU/edit?usp=sharing

These fantastic students were recognized at the Scholastic Arts Ceremony on Wednesday, March 5th at Kenmore. Also, all 219 Individual Gold Keys, American Visions and the 32 Gold Art Portfolios will go on to New York to be considered for National Recognition. All Gold Keys will be on display the Syphax Center from February 24th to March 28th.

Here is video of the Gold Keys displayed at the Syphax Center:

As always, our Warriors get Results!

Sincerely, The Wakefield Visual Arts Team:

Susi Brittain
Jina Davidson
Peter Fitzgerald
Nancy Flores
Jeff Pabotoy

All 4 of our Wakefield Reflections Winners won at the Arlington County Level!

The winners of the Outstanding Interpretation in Arlington (and will go on to represent Arlington at the State level!):
Tiago Woodyard – Music Composition
Dany Dorsey – Literature
Ava Lettau – Visual Arts

The winner of the Award of Merit in Arlington (3rd place):
Margy Morris – Photography

https://www.apsva.us/post/arlington-county-council-of-ptas-announced-the-2024-25-reflections-winners/

Additionally, these students won at the Wakefield PTA Reflections level:

Award of Excellence- Visual Art (2nd place certificate)
Grace Armitage
Angelina Alvarado

Award of Excellence-Photography
Lourdes Vazquez Moreno
Malcolm Epstein

Award of Merit-Photography (3rd place certificate)
Keyla Park Hernandez
Lucas Lopez
Iwo Sakowski

Please congratulate all of our talented Warriors when you see them!

Link to all the Arts winners:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1740Nr8-Pe0F5hTorB5AzOCT3ya6frmC9?usp=sharing