TUCSON, Ariz. — Desert View High School's Ashley Alvarez has been named the winner of the 2022 Congressional Art Competition for the 3rd District of Arizona.
“This piece expertly portrays many of the shared experiences and emotions from events past and present,” said Rep. Grijalva. “It was hard to choose from all the diverse, creative and thoughtful submissions, and I am proud to congratulate Ashley and thank her for sharing this powerful reflection of her loss and our world.”
Representative Raul Grijalva announced the sophomore's achievement Friday.
On top of winning the competition, Rep. Grijalva's announcement explained Alvarez also earned a free trip to Washington D.C. to see her artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol building. That is where her piece called, "Follow the Golden Flame," will hang for one year. Alvarez is also eligible to get a $3,000 per year scholarship to the Savannah College of Art and Design.
"Everyone has the ‘golden light’ that they follow in their life, their motivation to keep going,” said Ashley Alvarez. “In these past couple of years, we all, in this world, have experienced a lot of change. ...From personal experience, I lost my brother last year in June. Everything that I had thought I knew about the world changed perspective in both positive and negative ways....My family during this time was my guide or in this case my ‘light’. I was obliged to go through the most life-changing events with them and we all got to see a side of each other that we’ve never seen before. In this piece I wanted to capture the essence of all of these emotions while knowing that we have the support we need around us. Everyone has experienced some kind of distress and chaos that caused emotional damage in some way but, personally, I believe we all need to take a step back and look at the positive in our lives and know that there is still hope and there are still people who care out there. In a way, we all have a personal guardian angel watching out for us, whether it is our family, our friends, or even society, collectively. There is still a light in the darkness. No matter how bad it may seem, someone will be there for us."
All runners up and artwork submissions will be on display at two local art galleries as well as the Patagonia Fall Festival later this year.
Rep. Grijalva says, "I’d like to also extend my thanks to all the artists who submitted their work and encourage them to continue their passions and hope they will try again next year.”
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