Jon Harvell wins 2nd place in congressional art contest
Work to hang in Gohmert's D.C. office

Photos/Charlotte Smith Jon Harvell displays the plaque he received for winning second place in An Artistic Discovery, an annual contest open to high school students across the country. Students enter and compete based on their congressional district. Pictured with Harvell are Rep. Louis Gohmert and Whitehouse High School art instructor Christine Killian. By placing second, Harvell's artwork will be displayed in Rep. Gohmert's Washington, D.C., office. Pictured at left is Harvell's winning entry, "Flight of Time." There is no theme to the annual contest, and entries are judged by representatives from colleges and universities within the student's congressional district.

Artwork by Whitehouse High School student Jon Harvell will grace the Washington, D.C., office of Rep. Louie Gohmert. Harvell placed second in a congressional art contest open to more than 100 East Texas high schools in Gohmert's first congressional district.

Top honors went to Spring Hill High School junior Allie Brasher, whose "Reflections of Light" will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senior Melissa Eades, also from Spring Hill High School, placed third. Her "Composition of Plaster Pieces" will hang in Gohmert's Tyler office, where the announcement of the winners took place on Wednesday, April 11.

"The talent we have right here in East Texas has impressed me all of my life, and it just seems to be getting even better," said Rep. Gohmert. "It is something of which we can all be proud when our East Texas art is displayed with winners from all the other districts in the country. Ours takes a back seat to no one."

Harvell's piece, "Flight of Time," is a mixed media done with graphite and colored pencil.

"My work is an illustration for the song 'Speed of Sound' by Coldplay. I like working with recognizable images but giving them a twist from the expected," said the WHS junior.

The annual contest, "An Artistic Dis- covery," invites students in participating congressional districts throughout the country to submit entries. Schools are limited to two entries, and they can be any level, any media, explained WHS art instructor Christine Killian.

"We have participated in previous years, but this is the first time we have placed," said Killian. "Jon is very talented and is one of those rare people who can see images in his head and produce them on paper equally as well."

"It is really cool to have work hanging in Washington, D.C.," added Harvell, who Killian praised as a well-rounded student who is successful in athletics, taking AP courses and creative in the arts.