Revere Artist Receives Award in National PTA Reflections Contest

By LILY TINOCO  | Assistant Editor

Palisadian Jake Gallagher—a student at Paul Revere Charter Middle School—was recently given the Award of Excellence for his participation in the 2022-23 California PTA Reflections Art Contest at the national level.

Every year, students across the state are invited to participate in the program and submit original artwork in one of six areas: dance choreography, literature, photography, film production, music composition and visual arts.

The submissions are first presented to school-level PTAs, where they are judged by five grade-level divisions. School PTAs then choose a number of entries to move on to be judged by local PTA units, who send the entries to councils and districts for further consideration.

“The final artworks submitted to California State PTA by districts are then considered for Outstanding Interpretation, Awards of Excellence or Awards of Merit,” according to the California State PTA website. “Outstanding Interpretation and Award of Excellence entries then go on to represent California in the final National PTA judging round.”

A total of 14 California students were recognized by the National PTA Reflections program for their creative accomplishments this year—including Gallagher.

The theme of this year’s competition was “Show Your Voice,” encouraging students to “unleash creative talents, express themselves … [and] experience the fun and joy of making art.”

Gallagher, an eighth-grade student, submitted an original art piece, “Heroes of Change,” to compete in the Visual Arts category. His artwork highlights nine individuals he considers heroic, including Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King Jr., Jane Goodall, Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, Mother Teresa, Abraham Lincoln, John Lennon—and one blank figure with a question mark.

“My art piece depicts nine people in history … who have spoken out and used their voice to change the world,” the Marquez Knolls resident explained to the Palisadian-Post in March. “And all of these people are important parts of history … I put a blank space, almost like an empty person, to show that anyone viewing the piece of art could use [their] voice to change the world and be just like one of them.”

This year, National PTA reported over 900 submissions from over 40 state PTA congresses. Gallagher’s artwork was “viewed by a national panel of judges and scored highly on [his] interpretation of the theme, creativity and technical skills.”

Gallagher was awarded a $200 Young Artist Scholarship, silver medallion and an Award of Excellence certificate.

“I was extremely surprised and thrilled to find out I won the National Award of Excellence in Visual Arts,” Gallagher said to the Post. “Winning this award has immensely boosted my confidence in my artistic abilities and makes me want to work extra hard as an artist.”

To view this year’s winners, visit capta.org/programs-events/reflections/award-of-excellence-recipients.