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Morgan Wall - Mount Airy News
 

June 15, 2010

Tonight, Beth Isaacs is on her way to Washington, D.C.

She is looking forward to touring the city on her first visit to the nation’s capital and hopes to see the Holocaust Museum.

However, the trip is not purely a vacation. Isaacs will be honored by Congress at an award and art installation ceremony as the Fifth District winner of the 2010 Congressional Art Contest. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx chose Isaac’s photograph as the winner for her district, meaning the piece will be on display in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol for one full year.

Isaacs' winning entry, Urban Silence

The rising senior at East Surry High School took the photograph of Main Street in Mount Airy for her art class. Students were required to create a piece to enter in the contest. Isaacs likes to draw but decided to investigate photography for this particular project because last year’s winner was also a photograph. The piece had to represent North Carolina in some way.

“It was between (downtown) and a picture of an old-timey car. I decided on that one because it represented Mount Airy,” she said of the color photograph entitled “Urban Silence.”

She found out she won the contest via text message from her mom and is excited to get to Washington and enjoy the experience.

“I think that’s exciting,” she said of the fact that her artwork will be on display in the Capitol. “I’m glad it was an assignment, otherwise I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do that.”

Not surprisingly, Isaacs’ favorite subject in school is art, but she has never won a contest like this one before.

“I really like to draw. I just think it’s fun to be creative,” she said of why she enjoys art.

The Congressional Art Contest started in 1982 and is open only to high school students. Each member of the House of Representatives chooses a district winner from the submissions. Each district winner is then invited to the Capitol for an award ceremony and to see his or her piece hung.

“The Congressional Art Competition is a once in a lifetime chance for young North Carolina artists to display their work in the United State Capitol,” said Foxx in a press release announcing the winner. “I’m pleased that Elizabeth’s excellent work of art will hang in the Capitol to represent all of the fine submissions that were part of the contest this year.”

To see all of North Carolina’s winning entries, visit www.conginst.org/gallery/gallery.php?File=NorthCarolina10.xml.