When Montville High School senior Casey Hanrahan goes to Washington, D.C. this summer it will be see more than the monuments. She’s one of a select group of young artists whose works will be on display in the United States Capitol.
Casey, 17, the daughter of Jamie (James Jr.) and Gina Hanrahan, Oakdale, was selected to represent the 2nd Congressional District in the annual Congressional Art Contest. Her father is headmaster at St. Thomas More School in Oakdale.
Her charcoal drawing, “Joshwa,” of fellow art student Joshua Meng will be on display in the United States Capitol, with other first-place winners from across the country, for one year. A national winner will be selected during a ceremony in Washington this summer.
Casey’s artwork was selected from pieces submitted by 33 students from eight school districts in the 2nd Congressional district. All of the works have been on display at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Old Lyme. The winners were announced by Rep. Joe Courtney at a viewing on Saturday, May 3 at the college.
“Casey is very focused in her work,” said Beatriz Fain, one of Montville High’s four art teachers. “She had works in the show for three years, and placed third last year.”
“Drawing is my favorite – I’m a big dry medium person, I like neat, clean-cut stuff,” said Casey, who admitted the show was in the back of her mind while putting together her college application portfolio. “I definitely like to do portraits over landscapes and shading is my favorite part.”
Several Montville High students had works in the district display and competition: Kellen Davis, Cristel Goodling, Joshua Meng, Alana Riley, Lorie Scovish, Meghan Smith and Venkei Wong, in addition to Hanrahan. All had to submit original artworks, paintings or drawings based on photos or live subjects, not copies of other artists’ works.
“We encourage them to draw what they know, to do portraits of someone or something they are familiar with,” Fain said. “If you know your subject, you can express more. One of our students drew her cat.”
The teachers look for extracurricular activities and shows for the students. This year, Fain said, the Congressional Art Show allowed more students from each school to participate; in past years it had been limited to only a couple. The Montville students also participated for the first time this year in a show organized by the Mystic Art Association.
“We work very hard with all of our students, and we have a very talented student population,” said Fain.
Montville High has four art teachers who rotate between the disciplines. Tim Egan and Fain specialize in drawing and painting; Carolyn Olczak in ceramics and Bethany Bonner in digital imagery. The school offers two classes each in drawing, painting, ceramics and digital imaging, as well as in jewelry and calligraphy. Students who have completed all of the classes in an area also can develop independent study programs, working one-on-one with the teachers.
“My teachers at Montville have really been an inspiration, so supportive, and given me lots of opportunities,” said Casey. Her independent study program allows her a block of time each school day to work on painting, drawing or sculpture of subjects she has selected with guidance from her instructors.
Through Montville’s arts program, last fall she took the fundamentals of drawing course with Connecticut College professor Barkley L. Hendricks, a contemporary American painter recognized for his contributions to black conceptualism. The Philadelphia native, who specializes in portraiture, the figure and landscapes, as well as photography, has works displayed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and other major museums.
“At first, he was very critical of my drawing,” Casey said of Hendricks. “He has a reputation for being a tough teacher.”
As the class progressed, though, he complemented her for her hard work and talent. She had one classmate, a college senior studying art.
Casey will attend the Hartford Art School program at the University of Hartford in the fall.
“I felt they were very down to earth and the faculty was very friendly and encouraging,” she said. “The University gives me a lot more options if I ever decided I wanted to switch majors.”
“Casey started drawing in sixth grade as something to do while we were at the Norwich Skating Rink for her older sister Shannon’s skating practice,” Gina said. “She didn’t really have a lot of guidance, but by the time she got to Montville High, she was quite accomplished. Then she got a scholarship one summer to study two weeks at the Lyme Art Academy.”
The independent panel of judges who critiqued the 2nd District works of art were Peter Zallinger, full-time Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing, Chair of the Post-Baccalaureate Program and Interim Dean of Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and Jeff and Bestey Cooley, owners of The Cooley Gallery in Old Lyme.
Hanrahan plans to go to Washington at least once while her art is on display. Part of her award was three roundtrip Amtrak train tickets to Washington this summer.