Ward Melville student named 'best' of young Long Island artists
Maria Gavrilov, a senior at Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, entered “The Keys to the Whole,” right, in the annual juried art exhibit“ Long Island’s Best: Young Artists at The Heckscher Museum.” Credit: The Heckscher Museum of Art
A student from Ward Melville High School in East Setauket took home the top honor in a recent competition for Long Island’s young artists.
Maria Gavrilov, a senior, won best in show at “Long Island’s Best: Young Artists at The Heckscher Museum,” an annual juried art exhibition for local high schoolers. The contest, which received more than 400 submissions from 63 high schools, challenged participants to select an inspiration piece and then “create original artwork and write an artist’s statement explaining their creative process,” according to the museum.
Gavrilov’s winning artwork, “The Keys to the Whole,” was a mixed-media sculpture that included acrylic on wood and items such as screws, spare keys and instrument valves. The piece embodies the “tension and inspiration” that visual art and music have in her creative identity, she said.
“I used to struggle with balance when I viewed these art forms as completely separate and scrambled my energy between them,” said Gavrilov, whose inspiration was Esphyr Slobodkina’s “The Typewriter Bird,” a sculpture made from typewriter parts. “I wanted to use this piece to explore that challenge and the realization that both crafts have become core parts of my identity and are fuel for my creativity and strength.”
Second place went to Manhasset High School sophomore Sophia Phan for her colored pencil piece, “Legacy.” Manhasset junior Angelina Yan placed third for her piece, “Confinement of My Mind,” which includes oil paint, colored pencil, feathers and acrylic on wood.
Selected entries will be on display at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington until May 3.
BELLMORE
Umpire training
The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District has launched a partnership with the nonprofit organization Umps Care to bring an umpire training and leadership program to the district’s students.
The program, initiated by Superintendent Michael Harrington, is open to students ages 13-18 and features a six-week course. It was created due to the district having had to “cancel or combine games in recent years due to a shortage of available umpires and officials,” officials said.
“The curriculum combines leadership and life skills with learning how to be an umpire,” Harrington said in a statement.
STONY BROOK
Ethics bowl
A team from The Stony Brook School won first place in this year’s Long Island High School Ethics Bowl. The victory represents the school’s seventh title in nine years, competition officials said. This year’s members: Sam Azoba, Christina Duryea-Kelly, Peyton Rohan and Nik Stathatos.
The annual competition challenged participants to “analyze and discuss real-life, and timely, ethical issues,” according to competitional officials. It was sponsored by the Squire Family Foundation in East Northport and held at Hofstra University in Hempstead.
The second-place team came from Northport High School, while teams from Bethpage and Northport high schools tied for third.
ISLANDWIDE
Chemagination winners
Ten Long Island students were first-place winners at this year’s Chemagination competition coordinated by the American Chemical Society’s New York Section.
The competition challenged students to imagine they are living 25 years in the future and describe “a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry that has improved the quality of people’s lives today,” according to competition officials. Their topics ranged from self-driving cars to diatom-derived biodegradable ocean blankets that combat coral reef degradation.
First-place winners, their high schools and categories: Aleena Ayaz, Lavanya Purwar and Silvie Salamone, Half Hollow Hills West in Dix Hills, medicine; Krish Bangard and Matthew Gallo, Half Hollow Hills West, environment; Sahrina Choudhury, Jenna Mohamed and Emily Sudberg, Division Avenue in Levittown, new materials; and Parker Donohue and Eli Patrickakos, Garden City, alternative energy.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
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