Canfield High School senior Sophia Cianciola won a national gold medal at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition recently in New York City for her drawing titled “Fears of the Present.” She was one of four local students who won a gold medal at the competition.

Four local art students won national gold medals at an art competition late last month in New York City — the most gold medalists from the area in decades.

Lakeview senior Emily Bennett, Niles McKinley senior Kellen Davis Hall, Ursuline junior Thomas Hull and Canfield junior Sophia Cianciola were chosen from more than 260,000 works of art and writing submitted by 100,000 students from across the nation in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Fewer than 2,000 works received a national medal, which places their work within the top 1 percent of all submissions nationwide.

Student works were honored for excellence in originality, technical skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. The judges for the competition included some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts. The 2022 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards national ceremony will take place at Carnegie Hall on June 9.

“Last year, the area had a pair of silver medalists, but that national gold medal still eluded our area. This year, a handful of students from Trumbull and Mahoning counties were able to accomplish more in one year than our area has in decades,” said Scholastic Art and Writing Awards regional coordinator Josh MacMillan, an art teacher at Hubbrd High School.

Bennett, whose art teacher is Jeff Piper, won a gold medal and also was awarded the Civic Expression Award, sponsored by the Maurice R. Robinson Fund, which provides six students whose works best promote responsible participation in civic life with $1,000 scholarships. Her oil painting is titled “Don’t Forget Your Lunch.”

“This accomplishment helped me realize that all my work these past four years was for something. Winning a top 300 award showed me that others understand and strongly support my artwork. Their enjoyment helps me realize that my love for art can touch others as well. Throughout the past four years, I educated myself on art, and now I can transfer that to others,” Bennett said.

Davis Hall, whose art teacher is Laurie DeLucia, said he was “completely oblivious” to the fact he won at the national contest. His painting is titled “Mobile Wardrobe.”

“My first period teacher told me to go down to Ms. DeLucia’s room and she was ecstatic. She said to me ‘I almost called you last night; I was so excited. But I wanted to see your reaction in person.’ I immediately called my mom, she was so excited, she couldn’t believe it at first. My dad was extremely proud too. Some of my friends said flattering things like ‘you’re gonna be famous one day’ or ‘that’s legendary.’ My friends were so amazed by the honor of it. So many of my family members were posting and sharing the news on Facebook. Everybody’s reactions were as uplifting to me as the news itself,” Davis Hall said.

Cianciola, whose art teacher is Kevin Hoopes, said winning the national award reflects not only on her accomplishments as an artist, but also reflects on her education. Her drawing is titled “Fears of the Present” and uses COVID-19 as its theme.

“As a whole, if it weren’t for my teachers, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to fully form the ideas and message that went into the piece,” she said.

Hull, whose art teacher is Alaina Campbell, earned a gold medal and also received the highest award in the competition as an American Vision Award Winner. His mixed media piece is titled “Standing Out as a Star in Space.”

“It feels good to know what I did was recognized on a national level in this competition. I did not expect to get anything at all, so to know what I did was something others like is a good feeling,” Hull said. “Artwise, I have only ever been in this bubble of my hometown area, and it can seem like the world is so grand and something I couldn’t stand against. It’s comforting to realize even on a larger scale that I can make something of myself.”

MacMillan said he is blessed to be part of the process for the local students.

“As the regional coordinator I am fortunate to see the dozens of teachers and hundreds of students that work so hard to put their artwork for others to view, judge and enjoy. The arts are usually the item that most say are one of the first to get cut during difficult financial decisions our schools have to make yearly, MacMillan said. “The accomplishment of these students and the hundreds who participated show the power of opportunity these programs can give to our areas students because with the right amount of encouragement in these programs, we can continue to help our students on a pathway to success.”