First Place in An Art Contest

Elsa took first place in her age group this year in the annual Cedarburg Youth Plein Air Art Contest! And her age group was 6-8, so she was actually on the young end of the group.

Elsa participated in this contest last year, and was bitterly disappointed when she didn't place. I have to admit, I thought it was a little ridiculous myself. Many of the pieces that did place in Elsa's age group at the time (ages 2-5) didn't even qualify as plein air art, to my mind (at least two were still-lifes of vases of flowers or bowls of fruit). It seemed like in that age group, the judge valued abstract creativity instead, and I felt like I had steered Elsa wrong by telling her that her artwork needed to be realistic. She was devastated, which was heartbreaking for me, especially since I felt like I had played a part in it. But at the same time, I do think it was good for her to experience disappointment, and to learn the "life isn't always fair" lesson. And she was game to try the contest again this year, which I was thrilled about.

Well, it seems that now that she's in the 6-8 age group, the judge (same idiot as last year) felt that realism was now age-appropriate, because this year, she nailed it!

There are pretty strict rules for this contest—you have to get a blank sheet of paper stamped at the Cedarburg Cultural Center, then bring it back within a few weeks (so they know the child did the artwork within the time period covered by the contest). The artwork also has to depict something in Ozaukee County. (Another reason I was annoyed with the pictures of vases of flowers that placed in last year's contest. I guess that vase of flowers certainly could have been in Ozaukee County, but it didn't seem to be in the spirit of the contest.)

So one morning while Claire was at camp at Elite, Elsa and I went out to find something to draw. This year, Elsa chose to draw this bridge at a park in Cedarburg. Here she is working on it ...

... and here's the completed piece, hanging up at the Cedarburg Cultural Center.

 It was hanging up during the Strawberry Festival, so we got to check it out while we were there.

(Where, as we do every year, we had chocolate-covered strawberries. Yum.)

Anyway, here's Elsa with her fellow Plein Air Art contest winners. Notice the percentage of girls to boys (that's a girl with the short hair in the middle, by the way). The judge complained about that during the awards ceremony, urging more boys to enter the arts, and helpfully pointing out that men "make the best chefs and the best fashion designers." Really? The best? Perhaps you should ask Julia Childs and Donna Karan whether they agree with that? That dude is still on my list, even if he did give Elsa a first-place prize this year. And I'm sorry, but I kind of love seeing girls dominating a contest like this.

As her prize, Elsa got two $25 gift certificates from the Cedarburg Chamber of Commerce, which could be used at any Chamber member business. We had a nice afternoon a month or so later, wandering around Cedarburg while she looked for ways to spend her cash. She ended up with a small stuffed animal and this gigantic candy apple, covered in chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, and Oreo crumbs.