LI student wins New York State flag competition

Julia Manolios, of Floral Park, an eighth-grader at the Long Island School for the Gifted in South Huntington, won the state flag competition coordinated by the New York State Art Teachers Association. Credit: Robin O'Leary
A Floral Park girl is the overall state winner in a flag design competition coordinated by the New York State Art Teachers Association.
Julia Manolios, an eighth-grader at Long Island School for the Gifted in South Huntington, took the top spot for her illustration, which featured a pile of "instant photos" depicting such landmarks as Jones Beach and The New York Botanical Garden. It was created using pens and colored pencils.
For winning, Manolios received $1,000 and her drawing will be printed onto a flag that will hang next month — along with flags of other state winners — at the 2019 National Art Education Association Conference in Boston. She also received a smaller version of the flag and $1,500 worth of art supplies for her classroom.
"I wanted to represent the entire state and realized one drawing wasn't enough," Manolios, 14, said of her concept inspired by Polaroid photos. Of winning, she said: "I was completely surprised and really honored."
Manolios' other achievements have included winning a spring-theme drawing contest as part of the Huntington Tulip Festival. She is also a Girl Scout who volunteers with a Methodist church and an enrichment program at Floral Park-Bellerose School.
The state's middle school winner was Charlyse LaMantia of Babylon Junior-Senior High School, and the elementary school winner was Alessandra Pons of Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School in Amityville.
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