Luján Announces Winner of 2017 Congressional Art Competition

Los Alamos High School sophomore Emily Jones wins with digital butterfly artwork

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) today announced that Emily Jones, a sophomore at Los Alamos High school, is this year’s winner of the Congressional Art Competition.

Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Since the Artistic Discovery competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated. Winners are recognized both in their district and at an annual awards ceremony in Washington, DC. The winning works are displayed for one year at the U.S. Capitol.

“Congratulations to Emily Jones from Los Alamos for being selected as this year’s winner of the Congressional Art Competition for northern New Mexico,” Luján said.  “Her work will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for an entire year where it can be seen by the millions of visitors from across the world who visit the capitol building.  I want to extend sincere congratulations to Emily and all the students who entered this year’s competition; they represent the next generation of artists who are continuing New Mexico’s proud artistic traditions.”

Emily is a New Mexico native who has always had a passion for art, which was cultivated at a young age.  From her earliest memories, Emily has been inspired by the beautiful surroundings her home state. While she enjoys all forms of art, one of Emily’s favorite artistic mediums falls within the digital realm.  Emily currently uses a mix of traditional and digital methods to create unique digital characters and settings.  The butterfly entry for the 2017 Congressional Art Competition was created completely on her tablet, and then printed on a color printer for display.