Rep. Webster Announces Congressional Art Competition Winners

Leesburg, FL – Today, Florida Congressman Daniel Webster announced the 2019 Congressional Art Competition winners for Florida District 11. Students from 14 schools across the district participated in this year’s competition depicting “America the Beautiful.” Each winner was notified this week during in-person visits to their school.

“The judges and I were in awe of the overwhelming amount of quality artwork submitted by 173 exceptionally talented high school students,” said Rep. Webster. “The spectacular artwork and record turnout is a reflection of the emphasis that our schools are placing on the arts. I am pleased to be a part of encouraging the next generation of artistic talent.”

“I want to extend my sincere appreciation to the art teachers and administrators who supported the contest and are working to ensure that the next generation of artists are able to flourish and enrich our community.”

2019 winners from District 11 are:

• First Place: Karina Wilson of First Academy Leesburg, in Lake County
• Second Place: Bao Nhu Pham of Lake Minneola Highschool, in Lake County
• Third Place: Alexandra Pilling of Crystal River Highschool, in Citrus County

Individual county winners included:

• Aleigha Shepherd of Lake Weir Highschool, in Marion County
• Asha Mertis of Lake Minneola Highschool, in Lake County
• Shawna Sowell of South Sumter Highschool, in Sumter County
• Taylor Craven of Weeki Wachee Highschool, in Hernando County
• Megan Ryan of Lecanto Highschool, in Citrus County

Background on the annual Congressional Art Competition:

Open to all high school students in Florida’s 11^th Congressional District, the Artistic Discovery Contest is an opportunity to recognize artistic talent in the nation.  Since its creation in 1982, over 650,000 high school students have been involved in the nationwide competition.

The first-place winner will have his/her artwork displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol. The exhibit in Washington will also include artwork from other contest winners nation-wide. The second-place winning artwork will hang in Congressman Webster’s Washington, D.C. office. A county-overall winner is also named from each of the 5 counties within Congressman Webster’s district and their artwork will be displayed in each corresponding district office.

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