June 27, 2013. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) today welcomed rising Sophomore McKenzie Chasteen of Boone to the United States Capitol to celebrate her winning submission to the 2013 Congressional Art Competition. McKenzie and her mother, Kim Chasteen, met Foxx and joined champion high school artists from around the United States for a ceremony in their honor and a tour of the Capitol grounds.
“McKenzie Chasteen represented Watauga well today,” Congresswoman Foxx said. “I am so happy that the Congressional Art Competition gives talented students like McKenzie the opportunity to come to their Capitol for recognition and a front row seat to the work that goes on in the Peple’s House. Hundreds of thousands of visitors pass through the Capitol each year and I’m glad McKenzie’s artwork will be enjoyed by so many.”
“I am very honored to be part of the Congressional Art Competition and to represent North Carolina’s Fifth District,” McKenzie Chasteen said. “I have enjoyed touring our Nation’s Capitol and meeting Congresswoman Virginia Foxx. The collection of art hanging in the Capitol is extraordinary and I’m blessed to be a part of it.”
McKenzie’s original submission to the Congressional Art Competition, titled Poppies, is an acrylic painting. It took her more than one month to perfect her painting which she originally presented to her mother as a Christmas present.
For the third straight year, the winner of the North Carolina 5th District Art Competition was decided by a popular vote of Congresswoman Foxx’s Facebook audience.
Art competition winners are selected from each Congressional District within the United States. For the year following their recognition at the Capitol, winners’ artwork is displayed in the Capitol complex.
