Parker senior earns national art award

WAIMEA — Eric Fetsch earned national recognition in the 2017 Scholastic Art &Writing Awards earlier this month, presented by the Alliance for Young Artists &Writers.

A senior at Parker School in Waimea, Fetsch was selected by a panel of creative professionals as the most accomplished in the nation and received a Scholastic National Silver medal award for his art portfolio titled “Human Figures.” It included 10 sculptures of the human figure in clay, and is one of the most prestigious categories that shows a sustained level of excellence over multiple works in both concept and execution.

This year, more than 330,000 works of art and writing were submitted, with approximately 18,800 submissions receiving a Gold Key award — the highest honor at the regional level. Fetsch is among the top 1 percent of only 2,740 students to be awarded at the national level.

He has been invited to attend a ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall on June 8 and to participate in showcase events at Parsons School for Design at The New School and Pratt Institute’s Pratt Manhattan Gallery in New York City.

Nine additional Parker high school students earned regional recognition out of more than 1,500 submissions in the state, including 10th-grader Shea Ervin, 11th-grader Riley Herendeen, and senior Coco Romano Giordano, who each earned Gold Key awards.

Since 1923, the Scholastic Art &Writing Awards have recognized creative teenagers from across the country. By earning this award, Fetsch joins a legacy of celebrated authors and artists including Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford and Lena Dunham, among others.