Beaumont seventh grader wins Signature Image Award

Beaumont ISD’s Odom Academy seventh-grader Alaya Jones won the Signature Image Award from the Stark Museum of Art in Orange for the 2021 Student Juried Art Exhibition themed this year as “Home Is…” Ten Odom students had artwork chosen for the show, including seventh-grader Kayle Hoang, who won the Merit Award.

Fifteen students had the opportunity to submit artwork in early February. The theme for the 2021 competition was centered around depicting an image inspired by the student’s interpretation of the word home.

“Making art is such a personal expression of who you are as a person and artist. Showing your work to others and entering art in a competition can be a scary experience,” said Odom art teacher Donna Ware. “I am so proud of my students. The selected 10 interpreted the theme of the show in a unique and original way that reflects who they are as an artist, student and person.”

The exhibition includes up to 100 works of art created by fourth through 12th-grade artists in Region 5, Texas, and Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.

“Alaya should be very proud of herself and her artwork for being chosen as the Signature Image Award, the highest award of the show,” said Ware. “She is extremely talented, and it is an honor to share a classroom with her.”

Jones’ work will be used on the museum’s website and represent the exhibition displayed in the museum’s Community Art Gallery on March 16–May 15, and featured in an online exhibition at https://starkmuseum.org/juried-student-art-exhibition/.