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Walkersville Junior Parker Montour Wins Grand Prize In Recycled Art Contest

WHS Lions Pride Original Story:

by Rachel Canzoneri for Walkersville High School Lion’s Pride

On Friday November 18th, 70 students from 33 high schools in Maryland were judged at the 15th annual Rethink Recycling Contest, and Walkersville High School’s junior Parker Montour won the grand prize!

The contest, which is run by the Department of the Environment Secretary, promotes both creativity and recycling among students. Montour, using chicken wire, aluminum cans, newspaper, and cardboard, created a bird of prey she titled “Tony Hawk.”

“The drive there was awful. There was lots of traffic and it was slow, but the sculpture looked perfectly fine,” said Montour. Montour added, “So we got there and went to move it out of the car, and both the wings fell off. I almost started sobbing; I was devastated.”

news-parker-wins-2-1000x600From there, things only got worse. “Then I was carrying it in, and I slipped my thumb open on one of the cans, so blood was dripping all over the floor and all over my sculpture. It was a disaster, but we got it all cleaned up and fixed the wings just in time.” After her victory, Montour said, “I was shaking. I absolutely didn’t expect it. It was glorifying. Winning definitely made all the struggle of making it and transporting it worth it. All the others sculptures were so cool and all the entrants did a really decent job, which made me feel even more excited.”

Art teacher and department chair Susan Maseth said, “Even with the wings flopping and the blood all over the bird, it all worked out for her.” Maseth added, “Parker was interviewed by four different judges, and they felt she was the best representative overall. I’m extremely proud of her and I think all her hard work and stress was definitely deserving of this victory.”

“Not only was her sculpture big, but it was artistically powerful both from a distance and up close, which is not typical of big artwork” said English teacher Michele Gill, who attended the event. Gill added, “It was a super interesting piece overall.”

Contest judge and assistant director of the American Visionary Art Museum said, “I was impressed with the overall execution of the piece, and I especially liked how Parker constructed the wings to give the figure a sense of movement and the suggestion of flight.”

Clearly, Parker is not only artistic and hard working, but she was a good representative of her art and Walkersville overall!

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