District 202 students excel at Southwest Prairie Art Conference competition

Twenty-one high school artists from District 202 received awards and honors at the Southwest Prairie Art Conference competition held at Joliet Central High School on March 8, 2025. Over 120 students from various schools within the conference participated in the event.

At Plainfield East High School, Kaitlyn Jones, a senior, secured first place in mixed media. Kaylee Ruiz, a junior, also achieved first place in analog photography. Angelyn Wong, another senior, took first place in animation while Vilandy Zacarias won first place in printmaking. Nicolas Ramirez earned third place in commercial design. Freshman Juliana Alicea was recognized as an Up and Coming Artist.

Plainfield South High School saw Evelyn Myers winning first place for digital photography and Faith Pondelicek taking first place for drawing color. Sonya Puidokas and Amanda Ross received second places for ceramics wheel thrown and ceramics hand built respectively. Lilly Moeller earned an honorable mention for her ceramics work.

Liam McManaman from Plainfield North High School won second place for watercolor painting with Morgan Long securing third place in the same category. Ava Bhatti received an honorable mention for drawing neutral while Parker Anderson was noted as an Up and Coming Artist.

From Plainfield High School – Central Campus, Naomi Barnes placed third in computer-generated art alongside Ava Sommerfeld who also placed third but in acrylic painting. Jasper Dolude and Alexia White both received honorable mentions.

The competition highlighted the talents of young artists across different mediums including mixed media, photography, animation, ceramics, sculpture, painting, and digital art.