St. Mark's Students Win Art Awards

Each year, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Students submit entries to their representative’s office, and panels of district artists select the winning entries. This year, two St. Markers won first place in the Congressional Art Competition; Mary Zhang '25 (pictured above) won in the painting category, and Ivy Song '26 (pictured below) won in the drawing category. 

In April, visual art teacher Tiffany Doggett traveled with the student artists to Shrewsbury High School to see the art show, where Zhang and Song were awarded certificates by District 2 House Representative Jim McGovern. 

Since this competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated. Winners are recognized both in their district and at an annual awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The winning works are then displayed for one year at the United States Capitol. St. Mark’s graduate Gina Yang '24 won Best in Show last year, and her work has been hanging in the Capitol throughout this past year.

Earlier this year, several St. Markers also won Scholastic Art Awards in a variety of mediums. A complete list of Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention winners follows.

Gold Key

Ahyeon Kim Sentul (Painting)

Juyoung Pak Somewhere Only We Know (Drawing & Illustration) 

Minggang Li Hope (Photography)

Silver Key

Juefei Wang Aspirations of a Street Musician (Photography) and Spring Commencing (Photography)

Juyoung Pak Club Heaven (Painting)

Minggang Li Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill (Photography) and Lesser Flamingo (Photography)

Maisianne Pierce Untitled (Drawing & Illustration)

Potan (Vanessa) Leung World Outside the Window (Photography) 

Honorable Mention

Juefei Wang Perched Dragonfly (Photography), Amon (Photography), Companionship (Photography), Friends (Photography), and Prey (Photography)

Ahyeon Kim Alchemy of the Brain (Painting) and Butterfly Effect (Painting) 

Kathy Jiang Happy Kathy (Drawing & Illustration)

Yihe Zhu I remember (Photography)

Xinyue Mi Life Goes On (Photography)

Juyoung Pak Male Fantasy (Painting) and This is what Hong Kong feels like (Painting) 

Xinyun Zhang Serenity (Painting), Studio after dark (Painting), and Through the Woods (Mixed Media)

Lillian Li Still Rush (Digital Art)

Congratulations to these talented St. Markers!