Writing Through Art Literacy Competition Winners

For Immediate Release Press Contact: Tom Shinall Director of Marketing [email protected] 770-387-1300 REGIONAL SCHOOLS LEAD THE WAY IN BOOTH WESTERNART MUSEUM’S WRITING THROUGH ART LITERARY COMPETITION Out of more than 400 state-wide entries, five regional counties represented the finalistsCARTERSVILLE, GA – Booth Western Art Museum is proud to announce winners of the 2015-2016Writing Through Art Literary Competition. The purpose of the contest is to encourage students to developwriting skills by using works of art from the Booth Museum Permanent Collection as inspiration.The original contest, inspired and developed by the late Doc Stovall, focused solely on Cowboy Poetry.This unique genre originated from the cattle drives of the late 1800s. In 2005, the contest became afeature of the Museum’s annual Southeastern Cowboy Gathering, with winners reciting their poemsbefore an audience in the tradition of cowboys on the cattle trails. Currently, the expanded writing contestincludes short stories, essays, narrative poetry, as well as cowboy poetry.“It is exciting,” says Tom Shinall, Booth Museum Director of Marketing. “The competition continues togrow and we are seeing some of the best quality pieces ever submitted. The Booth is a true resource toour surrounding communities and this competition provides an outreach opportunity for teachers to gettheir students involved. Using pieces from the Permanent Collection as inspiration, these students mustreally refine their thought process and writing skills in order to develop a story,” says Shinall.The competition was open to students, grades 9 – 12, in Georgia public and private schools, as well asstudents, grades 9 – 12, who are home-schooled. More than 400 students from Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb,Floyd, Gordon, and Oconee counties participated in the competition. Eight finalists were selected in eachof the four divisions with cash prizes awarded to the first three places and teachers of finalists, whilehonorable mention certificates were awarded to the remaining finalists. Each finalist in the cowboy poetrydivision had the opportunity to recite his/her entry during Booth Western Art Museum’s 12th annualSoutheastern Cowboy Gathering on Saturday, March 12, 2016. Here, the first place winner waspresented the Doc Stovall Cowboy Poetry Award. MORE

Page two, WTALC Winners 2016Winners of the Writing Through Art Literary Competition from Bartow County Schools and their respectivecategories are as follows:Adairsville High SchoolTaylor Cannon, 3rd Place – Cowboy PoetrySean Burke, Honorable Mention – Cowboy PoetryThomas Bagley, Honorable Mention – Cowboy PoetryVincent Mastrarringo, Honorable Mention – Cowboy PoetryCarissa McCall, 2nd Place – EssayCarrie Anne Vickery, 3rd Place – EssayLelah Cochran, 2nd Place – Short StoryBrandy Wise, Honorable Mention – Short StoryDrake Arp, Honorable Mention – Short StoryBailey Wilson, Honorable Mention – Short StoryChristian Gass, Honorable Mention – Short StoryNoah Waits, 1st Place – Narrative PoetryCori Ray, 2nd Place – Narrative PoetryEmily Wilkey, Honorable Mention – Narrative PoetryKassidy Brown, Honorable Mention – Narrative PoetryBartow County College and Career AcademyLeah Hill, 3rd Place – Short StoryAlexia Chappell, 3rd Place – Narrative PoetryJessica Jordan, Honorable Mention – Cowboy PoetryCarley Colson, Honorable Mention – Cowboy PoetryWinners of the Writing Through Art Literary Competition from Cherokee County Schools and theirrespective categories are as follows:Sequoyah High SchoolStudent: Emily Minnick, 1st Place – Short StoryTeacher: Dr. Cathy Murphy MORE

Page three, WTALC Winners 2016Winners of the Writing Through Art Literary Competition from Cherokee County Schools and theirrespective categories are as follows:Harrison High SchoolStudent: Grant Mercer, 2nd Place – Cowboy PoetryTeacher: Macon WeaverWinners of the Writing Through Art Literary Competition from Gordon County Schools and their respectivecategories are as follows:Sonoraville High SchoolStudent: Lei-Lani Rogers, 1st Place – Cowboy PoetryTeacher: Ashley BrookshireWinners of the Writing Through Art Literary Competition from Oconee County Schools and theirrespective categories are as follows:Oconee County High SchoolStudent: Minjung Yu, Honorable Mention – Narrative PoetryTeacher: Derek HonAbout Booth Western Art MuseumBooth Western Art Museum, an Affiliate to the Smithsonian Institution, is a 120,000 square foot museumlocated in Cartersville, Georgia, where guests are invited to See America’s Story by exploring theAmerican West through contemporary Western artwork. The Museum also houses a Presidential Gallery,Civil War art gallery, and Sagebrush Ranch, an interactive children’s gallery. Open since August 2003,Booth Museum is the only museum of its kind in the Southeast and is the second largest art museum inthe state of Georgia. To learn more about Booth Western Art Museum, visit www.boothmuseum.org. ###