Somerville Public Schools students and art educators recently earned recognition for their outstanding artwork.

A trio of Somerville High School students earned several honors at the Massachusetts Scholastic Art & Writing Competition, sponsored by the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts and the Boston Globe. Student entries were judged on originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.

• Sophomore Tyler Gaffney (art teacher, Mrs. Jessica Howard) earned 4 Gold Key Scholastic Art Honors for the following Digital Art entries: Fall, Picking Flowers, Meteor Shower, and Fur Elise.
• Junior Nikolas Protopapas earned 3 Honorable Mentions for Digital Art entries Mountain Side, and Date (art teacher, Mrs. Jessica Howard), and for a Painting entry, Beach Day (art teacher, May Chau).
• Freshman Simone Gwynn earned Honorable Mention honors for a Digital Art entry, Fireflies (art teacher, Mrs. Jessica Howard).

Somerville students also received statewide Youth Award Month (YAM) recognition for entries in the following grade levels: Kindergarten, Grade 4, Grade 6, Grade 8, High School, and Overall K-4. Somerville received 6 of 17 awards, competing against many entries from districts throughout Massachusetts.

YAM entries will be displayed at the statewide YAM Exhibit 2019, sponsored by the Sargent Art Company and the Massachusetts Art Educators Association. The Exhibit will be on display at the State Transportation Building at 10 Park Plaza in Boston and will be open weekdays  through March 27 (closed weekends and on President’s Day). A YAM Family Celebration will take place Sunday, March 3, 12:00-4:00 p.m., which includes an Awards Ceremony at 12:30 p.m.