North Birmingham Times

Congressman Robert Aderholt has announced the winners of the 2025 4th Congressional District Art Competition. The announcement came during an awards ceremony at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Alabama.

The Best of Show honor was given to Natalie Jones, an 11th-grade student from DAR School in Grant. Natalie's piece, a colorful 3D crocheted tree, will be displayed in the United States Capitol for a year as part of the national Congressional Art Competition exhibit. She will also attend the national awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. this summer and has been awarded a full two-year scholarship to Wallace State Community College.

Natalie commented on her work, stating, “So, I really like the art collages and most of them that I see on places like Pinterest and other websites all the pieces are flat. I wanted to do something that came off of the canvas. Something that was really colorful and brought the colors of art and nature together.”

Congressman Aderholt commended the participants for their creativity, saying, “Each year I continue to be amazed at the level of artistic ability we see from students across the 4th District. The imagination and dedication these young artists pour into their work is truly inspiring. I want to extend my sincere thanks to Wallace State Community College and its president, Dr. Vicki Karolewics, for once again hosting this wonderful event and for their continued support of arts education in our schools.”

The winners in the painting category were Lilli Gilliland from JB Pennington High School, Yadira Juan from Russellville High School, and Yumiya Xie from Florence High School. Drawing winners included Elianna Hollis from Cullman High School, Ashley Pankey from Boaz High School, and Luke McCurdy from Guntersville High School.

In the collage category, the winners were Flor Gonzalez, Alexx Stadelman from DAR High School, and Frankie Kate Kruger from Cullman High School. Print winners were Holt Hurt from Florence High School, Emma Beavers from West Point High School, and Peyton Millsap from Haleyville High School.

Winners in the mixed media category included Vanessa Corona Rios from Guntersville High School, Isabella Smith from Sumiton Christian School, and Harper Granger from Cullman High School. The computer graphics category recognized Maria Agnello from St. Bernard Prep School, Laiken Rice from DAR High School, and Matthew Jiminez from Crossville High School as winners.

Finally, the photography category winners were Juan Dominguez from Haleyville High School, Stacy Johnson from Florence High School, and Crystal Gonzalez from Guntersville High School.