Winners of the Congressional Arts Competition from each participating district across the country were honored on Capitol Hill yesterday, including Hawaii's "Best In Show" winner, Ashlee Jimenez, a recent graduate of Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu. Neil was on hand to welcome Ashlee and her father James Jimenez (photo below) to the U.S. Capitol where Ashlee's piece will be displayed for one year.
Photo/Julie Curti
Read more from an earlier "Neil's Notebook" entry about Ashlee's work which is reprised below, along with photos taken during an awards ceremony in Honolulu last April.
View a video that includes an interview with Ashlee shortly after she was named the winner during the awards ceremony in Pearl City, Hawaii. Also, see interviews with the judges who explain why Ashlee's piece was selected "Best In Show" in the First District's competition.
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From "Neil's Notebook, April 27, 2009:
Winning student art depicts Hawaiians' exploration
Above/Left: The "Best In Show" is "Huaka'i" in this year's art contest. Above/Right: Neil with Ashlee Jimenez who drew "Huaka'i." (Photos/Monica Chapman)
(6/27/09) Ashlee Jimenez of Kamehameha Schools won the overall "Best in Show" honor for her pen and ink drawing, "Huaka‘i," at Saturday's awards ceremony for this year's "Kaha Ki‘i," the First Congressional District's annual art contest which is held in conjunction with other competitions in House districts across the country. Neil announced the winners at the ceremony on Saturday, April 25, 2009, at Pearlridge Center-Uptown where all student entries will remain on display for one more week. Ashlee won a variety of prizes, including a trip for two and her art teacher, Jim Dong, to a House reception later this year that will honor other winners from across the country in other House districts and begin a one-year display of each district's winner in the U.S. Capitol.
Ashlee's winning piece was accompanied by an essay describing her artwork: "I’m a senior at Kamehameha Schools’ Kapalama campus and I did this artwork in my design and illustration class under my instructor Mr. (Jim) Dong. My piece was created with the theme of engineering, physics and astronomy, all of which Hawaiians had knowledge of in some way or another. They needed to know about these areas for their survival. Engineering and physics were needed for things such as building their massive canoes. I focused mainly on the astronomy and how my ancestors would use the stars in the night sky to map out their voyages or “Huaka‘i,” which is the name of my artwork. The canoe was their form of transportation across the oceans. There were no GPS or airplanes so their maps were all in their memory and in the stars. Incorporating a hint of something Hawaiian in all of my art is something I love to do and this was the perfect opportunity to portray my background. I am Hawaiian, and I represent my culture with everything I speak, think and do. There’s a lot more to know about my culture and art is something that is keeping it alive for us and the future children of Hawaii."}
