Texas student wins national fish-art contest
Anh Thu Do of Liberty received the honor Saturday at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, site of this year’s contest expo. Do’s painting of a steelhead trout also took first place for grades 10-12 in the Texas division of the contest. It was her first drawing of a fish. “I chose to paint a steelhead because I used to live in Washington State,” said Do, who has lived in Texas about a year.
Do’s painting is available as a collector’s stamp. Proceeds from sales of the stamp help fund Wildlife Forever conservation projects.
Do was a student of Marsha Rader, an art teacher at the school.
“Anh Thu is really the art teacher’s dream student,” Rader said. “I didn’t have to teach her anything — I just encouraged her to get out of the box and try different media and techniques.”
Winners from 18 states and their families converged on Athens July 16-17. Brooklynn Selby of Henryetta, Okla., took the People’s Choice award. Voting took place online and at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.
Best of Show awards were given in each of three grade-level divisions. Winner of the grades 4-6 division was Monna Dong of Michigan. Best of Show for grades 7-9 went to Riley Nelson of Minnesota. For grades 10-12, Best of Show winner was Abraham Hunter of Illinois. All the artwork can be viewed at www.statefishart.com.
