Red Stick Bicentennial Art Flashback, Children’s talent on display at LASM
Who: The Red Stick Project, Louisiana Art and Science Museum (LASM) and CATS
What: Bicentennial Art Contest Winning Artwork on display in Flashback Celebration
When: October 7, 2018 (“October First Sunday”)
Where: Displayed at LASM, on CATS buses and CATS bus shelters
Why: Flashback Celebration of Baton Rouge’s Bicentennial
BATON ROUGE, (Sept. 27, 2018) –The Red Stick Project and The Capital Area Transit System (CATS) are pleased to announce that the winning artwork of the Red Stick Bicentennial Art Contest are now rolling on the streets of Baton Rouge. The winning pieces are on display in advertising spaces at CATS bus shelters and on CATS buses. The contest celebrated 200 years of Baton Rouge’s history of public transportation and a futuristic look at public transportation as well. The children’s designs were created with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) principles in mind and included all kinds of public transportation modes imagined for the past or future 200 years. The CATS public display of the children’s artwork was postponed due to advertising vendor changes resulting in an unavoidable delay in ad services. Therefore we invite the public to join us as we further honor the work of these children in a Flashback Celebration of the Baton Rouge Bicentennial in a display at LASM in the Science Station on October 7th, “October First Sunday.” The artwork will be on display until the end of the month. CATS will sponsor a cake and punch reception for the artists at 2:00 pm at the Yazoo Plaza (old train station), a covered area located on the north side of the LASM building. On “First Sunday” doors open at 1 pm at LASM and visitors will enjoy free admission to the museum and discounted tickets to planetarium shows. A discounted $6 ticket allows admission to all planetarium shows throughout the day. The public display of the children’s STEAM based work at LASM helps to instill pride, purpose and passion in these students for the arts. It also encourages them to nurture their talent and to connect their talent to future STEAM based opportunities. The Bicentennial Art contest was successful in boosting city pride in the participants while increasing their awareness of STEAM principles and their practical uses in the past, present and future career opportunities. The contest was in collaboration with the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge and the Division of Fine Arts of East Baton Rouge Parish Schools. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners were chosen by a panel from the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge and the honorable mentions were chosen by the Red Stick Project Board of Directors. On October 7th LASM will begin featuring the original artwork of these young artists:
Elementary
1st place – Sofia Baia
3rd grade, Buchanan
2nd place - Sitan Gao
5th grade, Buchanan
3rd place - Youssef Ismaili
2nd grade, BR FLAIM
Middle
1st place - Loren Myers
8th grade, Westdale Middle
2nd place - Arabelle Betzwieser
8th grade, Westdale Middle
3rd place - Katie Wang
8th grade, Glasgow Middle
High
1st place - Breanna Russell
9th grade, Woodlawn High
2nd place - Erica Huang
12th grade, McKinley Senior High
3rd place - Selia Jindal
11th grade, Baton Rouge Magnet High
Honorable Mentions
Jonnell Richardson
4th grade, Glen Oaks Park Elementary
Kayleb Bennett
4th grade, The Dufrocq School
Jashanti Westbrook
9th grade, Woodlawn High
On October 7th, LASM will also feature the local “Starry Night Over Red Stick” mural on the planetarium screen to highlight the Science in its stars and trigger kids’ imagination for storytelling of time/space travel. This Van Gogh style mural has a Baton Rouge neighborhood twist and was created with children in the Melrose East neighborhood through an Abounding Love Ministries camp at BREC Saia Park. The children helped produce many Impressionist style murals that reflect the eight artists named streets in Melrose East on a 144’ wall at the property of Victory and Power Ministry. The murals are featured in an upcoming trilingual coloring book for all ages. The coloring book is in production by the Red Stick Project, the “Coloring Book Club,” which is a group of art students at Mentorship STEAM Academy, local foreign language partners and other local youth. It’s on track for completion this winter. The project is intended to instill neighborhood, city and state pride and bring awareness to the unique international arts culture in our Capital City.
Contact: Evelyn Ware-Jackson, Red Stick Project, Board Chair, 225-571-6134, redstickarts@gmail.com
The mission of the Red Stick Project is to instill pride, purpose and passion in Baton Rouge communities through the arts. To learn more about The Red Stick Project visit www.redstickproject.com
We are grateful for the support of Lewco Specialty Products Inc, ExxonMobile, Baton Rouge Area Foundation and other community partners. This program is supported in part by a Decentralized Arts Funding Grant from Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge in cooperation with Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, and Louisiana State Arts Council.
