Sophomore Jasmyn Piwko recently won the Congressional Art Competition. She submitted one of her graphite drawings of a vintage car recommended by her art teacher for the competition. The drawing combines several things Piwko said she loves.

   “I love… old, vintage cars and trucks,” Piwko said. “I love that about it, and I love flowers. So a flower shop in cars, it’s like my favorite things, but my art teacher also said that I should put it into the competition and so I just [did].”

    According to the Congressional Institute, “Since it was established in 1982, the Congressional Art Competition has promoted the artistic abilities of America’s next generation of creative visionaries and connected these visionaries with their representatives in the U.S. Congress.”

   Piwko said she has taken art every year of her high school career, but believes her love for art began long before that.

   “I looked through baby pictures a few weeks ago,” Piwko said. “And I remember seeing myself with a pencil in hand and drawing. So, ever since I was a baby, I have always loved painting, drawing and all of the above.”

   Advanced drawing and painting teacher Megan Barnes said the competition is a good way to present art on a higher level.

   “[The Congressional Art Competition] is important because it is a contest that is for the whole state of Missouri,” Barnes said. “Each district gets to send a piece to Washington, D.C., from there, they hang in Cannon Tunnel, which is an underground tunnel… where the senators walk from building to building, so they don’t have to be outside. And so along the tunnel, it goes through each state, so it’s cool to be recognized and at that high level of manner through art.”

   Barnes, though not surprised by Piwko’s success, acknowledges her talent.

   “Jasmine is only a sophomore, and so I’ve had her in class for drawing one and two,” Barnes said. “For being so young and winning such a high-stakes contest is truly impressive. She has grown each year, she is dedicated and she is really teachable. She will take what you say and she will apply it, and then each project just keeps getting better and better.”

   Other than the Congressional Art Competition, Piwko has submitted other art pieces to various competitions.

   “I had one [art piece win] last year,” Piwko said. “It was my first ever graphic drawing. [It] won a contest, and it hung in Wonderworks and Branson for a year. And then I just submitted another one for a Principal’s Choice Award, but we haven’t had results back.”

   Piwko is not the only person in the Nixa School District who has won this competition.

   “[Nixa] won last year as well,” Barnes said. “Emma Snow won first place, and she got to go [to Washington D.C]. We’ve also won several years in the past. It was the first contest that I ever won as a teacher.”