The Reflections Art contest draws in students from all over Carlmont, the district, the state, and the nation for an opportunity to showcase their unique creative abilities and explore art forms of all kinds.
Each year, the contest, run by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), provides an open-ended prompt that can be answered by nearly any type of art, including areas like music, dance, writing, and visual arts. This year’s prompt was “Accepting Imperfection.” The prompt was designed to encourage students to think deeply about the themes their art is conveying and what it means to them.
“I think it helps make you think more critically about what you want to create and how that would speak to other people,” said Rhaya Szego, a senior who participated in last year’s contest titled “I’m Hopeful Because.”
The friendly competition gives students an opportunity to dive deeper into the world of art by allowing them to take a vague prompt and interpret it in their own way, then take that interpretation and put it back out there to express their thoughts and experiences.
“There’s definitely some aspect of, okay, I’m just entering to enter. But there’s also part of me that thought if I enter this, I want it to be something that I actually understand and something that speaks to me, and not just a surface level ‘I’m hopeful because of whatever,’” Szego said.
The contest doesn’t just offer students the opportunity to approach their work differently and view art in new ways. If they place well enough, they have the chance to move onto the district-level competition and even potentially state or nationwide.
According to the California State PTA, if an entry places well in the state competition, it may be selected for various state-level awards. These awards include Outstanding Interpretation and Awards of Excellence, which advance to the National PTA judging round or Awards of Merit. Recipients of all three awards will be able to showcase their artwork and receive prizes such as certificates and other recognition.
Many participants don’t enter for the prizes, though.
“For me, rather than just trying to win, I just really wanted to express myself. I thought painting is a really fun way to do that,” said sophomore Sarah Hong.
Julia Schulman, Carlmont Visual Arts Department Chair and teacher, agrees that the benefits of participating in such events can extend beyond just artistic ability.
“I think what the Reflections Art contest can do for students is make them care about what’s going on in school. It makes them part of the school culture, and it can be fun if you win. There’s also just that whole thing of participating in something that they think is meaningful is good,” Schulman said.
