Jonathan Clay, senior, spends half of his school day in the ceramics studio with AP Ceramics and a directed study. His time in the studio has led him to win two Scholastic Art Award (SAA) Gold Keys.

“Honestly, I wasn’t really looking forward to anything. There are eighth graders who enter who are amazing, so I thought I wouldn’t win. But then I did, and it was a nice surprise,” Clay said.

Clay was the recipient of two Gold Key awards for his deer antler teapot and smoke-fired bottle ceramic pieces.  This is the highest award that can be received at the regional level.

Every year, the SAA recognizes students regionally with Gold Keys, Silver Keys, and Honorable Mentions, and the top 2,000 are recognized nationally with Gold Medals and Silver Medals. This year, HHS students received a total of 31 regional acknowledgements, up from 17 last year, in the drawing and painting, ceramics, and photography areas.

“This year’s AP Ceramics students are very self-motivated. They’re dedicated and are willing to try new things as well as work on their techniques. I knew they were good kids, but you never know how many are going to win an award,” said Ms. Terry Chamberlin, Art.

Hannah Senser, Sam Greenwald, and Lauret Wilson, seniors, were also awarded Gold Keys in the ceramics category.

Mr. Rob Fuhr, Technology Education and AP Photography teacher, had two photography students, Alyssa Resnick and Anne Goodroad, seniors, win Gold Keys this year.

In previous years, college professors selected recipients, but this year the winners were chosen by a group of high school teachers across the region.

“The way they picked things this year seemed to be way different than last year. The art teachers and I discussed it, and we didn’t know if it made a difference or not, but we suspect it did,” Fuhr said.

Submissions are judged based on a variety of aspects, but ultimately are graded subjectively from an artistic standpoint.

“As far as quality of composition goes, it is somewhat instinctive how I grade based on what I can see. In order to become an AP class, I have to go through a whole process of learning how to grade the subjective as an art teacher, and all of those things have to do with the elements and principles of design,” Fuhr said. “It’s pretty much like there’s a matrix of concepts that you put on it as a teacher.”

Chamberlin agrees that there are multiple aspects considered in judging.

“It has to be creative, original, technically skilled, and express something personal – some voice. There has to be something in the work that grabs the judges,” Chamberlin said.

Students recognized by the SAA come from a variety of backgrounds. Caterina Rizzi, senior, a foreign exchange student from Italy, received an honorable mention in the drawing and painting category for her self portrait titled “Il Bacio (The Kiss)”.

“Our teachers back in Italy are very technical, so before you start to express yourself, you must learn how to use the pencil, the paint, the watercolor. After, you can use the technique in a more expressive way. Here, they don’t really care as much about the technique and are very interested in expressive work, which was kind of difficult for me,” Rizzi said.

Isabelle Bergman and Rachel Colestock, seniors, were also recognized in the drawing & painting category and received Gold Keys.

Winning a Gold Key can open up scholarship opportunities, including a $14,000 renewable scholarship to the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, though not all students choose to pursue their art after high school.

“I’m probably going to minor in [ceramics] after high school, and then continue it on the side because it’s fun,” Clay said.

Clay enjoys the freedom that art allows him, and acknowledges that he is always improving.

“I like that I can’t expect anything to come out perfect, because it won’t,” Clay said.