Thursday, June 9, 2005

Rochester artist wins national award for coat made entirely of rubber bands

By AMANDA DUMOND
Democrat Staff Writer

ROCHESTER — A young local artist's unusual creation is on display in New York and Washington D.C. this summer.

Emma Power, a sophomore at Spaulding High School, has won the Visions Award and the Gold Award with the national Scholastic Art and Writing program for a coat she made entirely of rubber bands.

The Visions Award is the equivalent of a best in show award, and, since 1923, the national contest has recognized thousands of young writers and artists including Truman Capote, Joyce Carol Oates and Andy Warhol. Power is the only Visions and Gold awards winner from the state of New Hampshire.

"I was so excited," Power of Wakefield said. "Tenth-graders don't usually win, so I was surprised."

The project took her about 50 hours to complete and consisted of her looping the rubber bands together to create the coat. Power said she got the idea from a kit she had as a child where she made jump ropes out of rubber bands.

Teacher Karen Good also encouraged Power to tackle the project in the competitive apparel design category using "something she had a lot of." Rubber bands were readily available in the classroom, so Power set to work in December, using art classes and any spare moments she had to work on the coat.

Power received her award on June 2 at Carnegie Hall in New York City, where her artwork also will be on display. The coat will then be shown from June 18 to Aug. 8 in Washington D.C.

"For a sophomore, to get a national award, that is really impressive," Good said.

Good said her student has showed considerable promise as an artist — even in her freshman year — and will be honored as the Sophomore Artist of the Year at the high school's annual award's banquet.

Power also said she plans to enter the scholastic art contest again as many times as possible, including a clay bust she has been working on in art class this year. She is interested in drawing, painting and sculpture and plans on pursuing an art degree in college. She is the daughter of Anita Lawrence of Wakefield and Lance Power of Wyoming.