VISUAL ARTS

Winners named in Kids Arts Fest poster contest

People’s voting to take place Friday

BY KRISTINA HANDY
 
 The Kids Arts Festival has revealed the winners of its SummerNight-themed poster contest.
 
 Held at the Kids Arts Fest on June 3, the contest encouraged children ages 5 to 19 to illustrate scenes from the annual Schenectady County SummerNight. This year’s event takes place on Friday.
 
 “The judges were wowed by the details the student artists put into their poster entries,” said Betsy Sandberg, chair of the Kids Arts Festival planning committee.
 
 The contest was divided into three age categories: 8 years old and younger; 9 to 13; and 14 to 19. A total of 145 entries were received.
 
 Eight-year-old Anastasia Witherspoon won the youngest category with her poster depicting the Kids Zone at the 2022 SummerNight. She included stick figures running through a sprinkler tent, a bounce house and other activities the family-friendly area offers.
 
 Srihitha Bogadapati won the 9-to-13-year-old category as she showed off her newfound perspective skills, drawing several empty tents in the foreground and a crowd of people watching a talent show with fireworks in the background.
 
 “We had just taken a lesson in perspective drawing in school,” said the 13-year-old, who attends Iroquois Middle School in Niskayuna. “I wanted the focus to be on the talent show but also to include the fireworks and how exciting it is to be at SummerNight.”
 
 Witherspoon’s older brother, Malachi Witherspoon, won the teen category. The 16-year-old impressed with his drawing of a rooftop party overlooked by a smiling sun and moon and exploding fireworks.
 
 Each winner won $100, and the three posters will be displayed at Friday’s SummerNight for a people’s choice voting round. An additional entry by Celeste Joo-Schwaber, which wowed the contest’s judges, will also be entered. The winner will win a $25 gift card from the Mohawk Valley Art Shoppe.
 
 Schenectady County SummerNight will take place Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. The poster contest’s people’s choice voting will be held at the Kids Zone around City Hall from 5:30 to 8 p.m.