Gibraltar Student’s Art Advances to National Competition

Gibraltar High School senior Shelby Kahr. Submitted photo.

Two years ago, Gibraltar High School senior Shelby Kahr never would have expected her artwork to make it into a Milwaukee Art Museum exhibit, much less one in New York.

But when Kahr found out about the potential to achieve at least statewide recognition through the Scholastic Art Awards – Wisconsin competition, she decided to take the leap. What has resulted is something beyond her wildest dreams – major recognition for the variety of art she creates and the selection of three of her pieces to move onto the national Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards competition.

Of the eight art pieces Kahr submitted to the contest, seven were honored: four as honorable mentions and three with the prestigious Gold Key Awards. She also submitted one writing piece, which garnered the senior an honorable mention.

There are two levels of winners recognized in awards ceremonies at the Milwaukee Art Museum: Silver Key and Gold Key. The Silver Key winners received statewide recognition while Gold Key artwork goes on to compete for silver and gold medals at the national level.

This year, more than 3,200 pieces of art were entered into the contest in Wisconsin, approximately 400 of which were honored with Silver and Gold Keys.

Kahr was first exposed to the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards her sophomore year during a visit to the Milwaukee Art Museum. She recalls seeing the original artwork, created by middle and high school youth, with awe.

“I had that really blown-away moment where kids my age had the opportunity to be featured in some place like the Milwaukee Art Museum,” Kahr recalled. “I really wanted to join their ranks, and have my pieces entered and, God forbid, shown at the museum.”

Two years later, she has accomplished that dream. It was an interesting perspective for the teen to bring to the Feb. 14 ceremony honoring the state’s Gold Key and Silver Key winners.

“Natives” mixed media piece by Shelby Kahr. Submitted photo.

“When I first saw it I thought, ‘I could never be this good,’” Kahr said. “Then when I was standing there looking at my pieces, I thought, ‘Wow, I’ve reached that stage.’ I feel really proud of it, like I’ve gotten somewhere.”

Between the three pieces that received Gold Key Awards, Kahr is most proud of “Natives” – a mixed media piece depicting Amazon tribesmen snacking on McDonald’s food in the wilderness. The forest backdrop was painted with acrylic before Kahr pasted on images she found in National Geographic magazine.

“I was really inspired by tribes and their really bright colors because that’s the last untouched culture we have in our world – untouched by globalization and technology,” Kahr said. “I thought it’d be cool to combine them with the product of globalization and consumerism – it’s these natives eating a bunch of leftover McDonald’s food. I thought those two images together would be a really poignant take on how consumerism is really touching the world, for better or worse.”

In “Forgotten,” Kahr’s watercolor and charcoal piece, she drew inspiration from abandoned houses and her favorite artist, realist painter Andrew Wyeth, who himself was inspired by the people and land around him. Kahr’s piece resembles a portion of one of Wyeth’s best-known paintings, “Christina’s World,” in which a woman lies in a grassy field looking up at a gray house on the horizon.

But there is nothing unoriginal about Kahr’s drawing – she may have been inspired by Wyeth, but the piece brings in elements that Kahr thought to incorporate on her own, namely watercolor.

“I wanted to create a rough charcoal drawing of abandoned houses because I was really inspired by those at the time,” Kahr said. “That eventually divulged into deciding to work watercolor into it to create more of a desolate put-together quality – to create clouds and maybe landscape behind it. It eventually led to a really cool dripping effect.”

“Forgotten” charcoal/watercolor mixed media by Shelby Kahr. Submitted photo.

As for the sappy, puppy-eyed canine in her sketch, “Elvis, Destroyer of Couches?” Look no further than her family pet, Elvis the pug.

“He’s fat, geriatric and a senior citizen when it comes to pugs,” Kahr said. “I thought it was the best way to immortalize him.”

Kahr created the piece during her free time as a birthday gift for her brother. She had, on numerous occasions, attempted to sit face-to-face with the old pug but his tendency to move around and drool had her instead referencing photos of the dog.

He may not have a chance at making it into the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, but that doesn’t mean Kahr isn’t going to treat him as such.

“I wanted to parody those great, stoic drawings of leaders that you see,” Kahr said.

Kahr’s artistic talents also find their place in Gibraltar High School’s newspaper, The Viking Voice, for which she does layout and design. She is also yearbook editor-in-chief and creates posters for the school’s theater department.

“It’s just one of those things that I can do that truly makes me happiest,” she said. “Probably what gives me the biggest joy is being able to create something and looking back at it knowing I created it with pride and satisfaction.”

While Kahr will still cross her fingers and play the waiting game to hear back on her placement at the national level (winners will be announced March 16), she is already benefitting from the boost of confidence her inner artist has received. While she doesn’t discount the idea of pursuing art in college, she is more confident in her ability to use every opportunity to create something and maybe enter a few more contests along the way.

“Elvis, Destroyer of Couches” sketch by Shelby Kahr. Submitted photo.

“The last art competition I entered was in second grade and it was me and two other entries, of which I placed third,” Shelby laughed. “That kind of set me back a bit so it’s taken me about eight years to find the confidence to submit pieces for another art competition but I think the results were pretty successful so I might try again.”

Kahr is the daughter of Mike Kahr, of Sturgeon Bay, and Jayne Harding, of Ellison Bay.

The 2015 Scholastic Art Awards: Wisconsin Exhibition will be on view until March 22 in the Schroeder Galleria of the Milwaukee Art Museum. For more information, visit MAM.org/exhibitions.