MSM artists win competition

Published January 17, 2020

Two students at Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock were recently chosen as winning artists in the inaugural Historic Cane Hill Art Competition and Exhibition. Senior Audrey Caruthers’s pen and ink piece, “The Natural State,” won the second-place Juror’s Prize and a $1,000 cash award. Junior Caroline Gunderman received one of two $75 Awards of Excellence for her pencil drawing, “Wisdom.” The winning artists were announced during an awards ceremony in Fayetteville Dec. 14.

Of the 52 pieces of artwork accepted into the competition from high school students across the state, 10 were pieces created by students at Mount St. Mary Academy. In addition to Caruthers and Gunderman, seniors Ireland McNally, Merritt Sage and Maria Thomas also had artwork selected for the competition and resulting exhibition. The exhibition features work from 30 Arkansas high school students and is scheduled to run through Jan. 18 in The Museum Gallery at Historic Cane Hill near Fayetteville.

Historic Cane Hill, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Cane Hill, hosted the event as a way to celebrate the talents of the state’s young artists. Arkansas students in grades 10-12 were invited to enter the competition, which awards a one-year, full-tuition scholarship to the University of Arkansas School of Art as well as six additional cash prizes totaling $2,000.