McDonald County High School junior Makayla Stone recently won a national award for a piece of art she made while at a six-week art program in Rhode Island.
MCHS art teacher Teresa Walthall said Stone applied last summer to the program at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. Stone applied for a scholarship to the program, and Walthall wrote a letter of recommendation for her, she said. Stone was 16 at the time she applied for and went to the program.
"She made this piece of art. She brought all this art and showed me. She entered the National Scholastic Art and Writing Contest and won a gold key rating, which is as high as you could go," Walthall said.
Walthall noted the ratings were divided by region. Stone received a gold key for her region and a silver key nationally, she said.
Walthall said, "I drove her to Kansas City for a reception. They had an exhibit for all the Scholastic winners. All this is due to her own self-initiative. She has chased down these opportunities. That's unusual for a 16-year-old."
Stone, now 17, explained her process in making her winning piece of art. She said she had to layer on the piece of paper a lot. She put it through a large press four times to get different colors on the paper. She painted on it with acrylic paint and made a stencil.
"I didn't know how to do printmaking before I went (to the program)," she said. "I didn't know anything."
She said she decided to apply to the program after watching a YouTube video of a student working on an art project. Her parents said she could go if she received a full scholarship. She did not expect to get the full scholarship, but she did. She said her parents were nervous about her going by herself on a plane.
Asked what she enjoys about art, she said, "I like that I can do something and I can work forever on it and I'll get this really beautiful result. I like that I can see how hard I've worked."
As for how she felt when she learned she had received the award, "I was shaking," she said. "I was in my English class and I checked my email. I couldn't do anything."
Of the reception in Kansas City, she said, "It was super fancy and really nice. I enjoyed seeing all the art because it was all so different."
Stone said she wants to do something that involves art in the future, but she is not sure a career in art is practical. She took an advanced placement environmental science class this year and may be interested in doing something with that.
Walthall said, "I could not be more proud of Makayla Stone for being the kind of hard-working, talented, self-starting person that puts her art into the world. She's a go-getter, and I'm proud of her for that. I'm thankful to have her in my class."
General News on 04/25/2019