Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward MageeNews.com a small commission – at no extra cost to you.
Jones College art students earn top honors at State Art Competition
ELLISVILLE-Four Jones College art students earned top honors at the Mississippi Community College’s Annual Art Show and Competition. Art instructor, Melanie Eubanks said she is especially proud of these students this year.
“I couldn’t be happier for and prouder of these Jones College art students who won awards at the Mississippi Community College Annual Show. During any semester, winning these awards is impressive, but they did it during a pandemic. All the artwork submitted for competition was made in the past year. They have got a lot of grit!” said Eubanks.
Mount Olive’s Josie Russell won Best of Show honors with her ceramic piece of art, “Anxiety,” a white rabbit.
“Getting the Best of Show ribbon means a lot to me because I’ve been doing art since I was little, and this is the biggest prize I’ve won!” said Russell. She admitted, “I haven’t worked in ceramics before coming to Jones College; I’ve been focused on graphic design. So, I was really surprised I won.”
Russell added that she was surprised to win the overall Best in Show ribbon considering there were entries from hundreds of community college students which were interesting and there were some outstanding realistic paintings.
“I was inspired to create the rabbit as part of an assignment, aspects of the self. I love animals and details and that’s how this piece came about,” said Russell. She hopes to continue to use her art skills to help the family Christmas Tree Farm, Making Memories after finishing her education.
Also exploring her artistic skills was third place winner in the Drawing category, Brittney Sanderson. The Ellisville resident said she usually focuses on being detailed in her designs. However, she took a different approach to the winning charcoal drawing, “Woman.”
“This piece was very expressionistic which I’m usually a little more detail-oriented in my art,” said Sanderson. “It was outside my comfort level, but it was fun. When I won, I was surprised because it wasn’t one of my more detailed pieces.”
Taking third place in 3-D Design was Sandersville’s, Hannah Mattison. Her artwork, “Defying Gravity” was partly inspired by her teacher, Mark Brown.
“Initially I was going to make it a teardrop but he suggested the opposite, fire. I added feathers to add to the look. Art is subjective, so I was a little surprised my entry won but winning was the highlight of my week!” said Mattison.
Additionally, Jones College sophomore, Jacquelyn Smith of Richton earned second-place honors for her printmaking artwork, “Wooded Path.” For more information about the Jones College Art program, check out the website: https://www.jcjc.edu/programs/finearts/
