Cardigan Artists Celebrated in Two Regional Exhibitions

The creative spirit continues to thrive at Cardigan! This month Cardigan students were recognized for their exceptional artistic skills in two different competitions. 

“First and foremost, I would like to congratulate all the Cardigan artists who submitted their artwork,” says Art Department Chair Nina Silitch P’19,’21. “It not only takes a tremendous amount of courage to share one’s work for judging, but it also takes additional time and effort to prepare artwork for a competition. It’s tough to find that extra time at Cardigan where everyone is so busy! These boys deserve a round of applause!”

The first competition was with the AVA Gallery in Lebanon, New Hampshire, where students submitted artwork to the 16th Annual Regional High School Exhibition. The exhibit is juried by practicing artists and includes artwork from Vermont and New Hampshire public, private, and vocational high schools. The works of art of two Cardigan ninth graders were chosen for the exhibit:

• “Dichotomy” by Dexiang “Johnny” Xu ’24
• “Warrior” by Jason Zhou ’24

The exhibition is open to the public until February 10.

The second competition was the Scholastic Art Competition, the oldest art competition in the US. Cardigan students competed in the New Hampshire regional competition which includes entrants from 58 schools, including Phillips Exeter Academy, St. Paul’s School, Holderness School, New Hampton School, and Kimball Union Academy.

This year over 50 New Hampshire art leaders reviewed thousands of student artwork from grades 7-12 in 16 visual art categories. 

“It was another historic year for Cardigan,” says Ms. Silitch. “The students won a total of 30 awards, including 10 Gold Key Awards, 11 Silver Key, and 9 Honorable Mentions.” Gold Key Award winners are automatically considered for national awards.

Congratulations to the following students whose artwork will be on display at Pinkerton Academy on February 11 during the 2024 Scholastic Art Exhibition and Ceremony:

Digital Art

• Riley Caples ’25: “Wet Rose” (Gold Key Award) 
• William Ahn ’25: “Melting Ice: What’s the Big Deal?” (Honorable Mention)

Drawing and Illustration

• Han Jun “Eric” Lee ’25: “Lazarus” (Gold Key Award)
• Jaiden Lee ’25: “Around the Fire” and “Choose” (Silver Key Award)
• Jaiden Lee ’25: “Deep Thought” (Honorable Mention)

Architecture and Industrial Design

• Sungjune Park ’25: “Florence Duomo” (Gold Key Award, New Hampshire Art Education Association President's Award)
• Chance Jai Zhu ’24: “Van Der Rohe Villa” (Honorable Mention)

Photography

• Wenbin “Binbin” Tang ’24: “Ain't Bad for a Nice Cold Bath” (Gold Key Award)
• Dexiang “Johnny” Xu ’24: “Truman” (Gold Key Award)
• Fangji “Leo” Yin ’25: “Fill,” “Bike,” and “Which Way” (Gold Key Award)
• Chance Jai Zhu ’24: “Oculus; Wings” and “Pier 92” (Gold Key Award)        
• William Gardner ’25: “Stillness in Motion” (Silver Key Award) 
• Chonghuai “Martin” Ma ’25: “Another World,” “obsession,” and “Skyscraper” (Silver Key Award)
• Dexiang “Johnny” Xu ’24: “Embedded,” “Scent of a Woman,” and “The Last Glance” (Silver Key Award)
• Chance Jai Zhu ’24: “Falling Water-Passerby” (Silver Key Award)
• William Gardner ’25: “Different Perspectives” (Honorable Mention)
• Chonghuai “Martin” Ma ’25: “The Door” (Honorable Mention)
• Dexiang “Johnny” Xu ’24: “Regret” (Honorable Mention)
• Fangji “Leo” Yin ’25: “Natural & Modern” (Honorable Mention)
• Chance Jai Zhu ’24: “Stretch-Shadows” (Honorable Mention)

Painting

• Han Jun “Eric” Lee ’25: “S.O.S (Save Our Seas)” (Silver Key Award)
• Han Jun “Eric” Lee ’25: “To Autumn” (Honorable Mention)

Learn more about the Arts at Cardigan, and congratulations to all our award winners!