(via
Humble ISD)Kingwood Park High School senior Emily Callens was awarded Grand Champion for her 3-D sculpture at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo School Art Contest. Her sculpture titled, “This One’s For You” was selected out of over 200,000 art entries. The 3-D sculpture sold for $88,000 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Auction and will be bronzed. Callens has participated in Rodeo Art since kindergarten and the last five years her artwork has been selected to move forward to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo School Art Contest. Last year she received Reserve Champion for her sculpture. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo School Art program provides students Pre-K through 12th grade the opportunity to compete in district shows, earn scholarships, and display their artwork in the Hayloft Gallery during the show. “Art has always been a big part of my life,” Callens said. “When I first saw the sculpture art pieces in middle school I knew I wanted to try it.” Callens named her final sculpture “This One’s For You” as a thank you to the rodeo, her teachers, her art teacher, and her family. “I researched the rodeo to figure out what photo I wanted to take and the image I wanted to recreate through sculpture,” Callens said. “Overall it was a two month process of creating the base to the finished product.” The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo recognized Callens and other young artists from across the state at the School Art Awards Program on March 11. The School Art Committee judged artwork from 100 public school districts and 40 private schools this year. “Emily is extremely talented and year after year she studied and became more knowledgeable about what the judges were looking for and what to produce to get to this point,” Marcia Papp, Kingwood Park High School art teacher, said. “She has been working very hard over the last four years to reach this point and I am very proud of her accomplishments. “ Although this is Callens last year to participate in the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Art competition, she is not done using her visual art talents. After graduation Callens plans to pursue a photography degree at Brigham Young University. 4951