Indian American student gets third prize in Congressional District Art Competition

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NEW YORK: An Indian American student from Fremont Ross High School, Marion, Ohio, Mann Patel, placed third in the 4th Congressional District Art Competition, held in Washington, DC.

Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Since the Artistic Discovery competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated.

Students submit entries to their representative’s office, and panels of district artists select the winning entries. Winners are recognized both in their district and at an annual awards ceremony in Washington, DC. The winning works are displayed for one year at the U.S. Capitol.

Patel, 17, a senior at Ross, was honored for his work last Friday during a reception at the Marion County Building. Artwork from all of the 30 entrants was on display at the county complex in downtown Marion ahead of the announcement of the winning piece, reported The News-Messenger.

“The project was about concealment, and I had my dad stand behind glass and I used a filter and Photoshop to create the photo,” Patel said.

He is the son of Sheetal and Aashish Patel and plans to major in medicine. He will attend the University of Cincinnati in the fall.

“Art is more of a hobby,” Patel said. “I got into it my freshman year — I prefer photography.”

Seth Brown, a senior at Lehman Catholic High School in Sidney, won the competition. His self-portrait montage drawn with colored pencils will be on display with works by other district winners from across the nation at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington for one year.

As the congressional district winner, Brown will be offered two airline tickets to visit the display of artwork in the U.S. Capitol. He is also eligible to receive a scholarship.

Ava Johnston, a junior at Pleasant High School in Marion County, was the runner-up in the art competition.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, and his wife, Polly, attended the reception and presented awards to the top artists.