Eight talented Albany High art students―Vander Khan, Olive Carey, Julia Rosi, Eliza Schlesinger, Lucy Rathke-Cook, Sienna Stewart, Hailey Farrell and Alex Steuer―engaged their ingenuity, teamwork and creativity at the 44th Olympics of the Visual Arts (OVA) on April 30 in Saratoga Springs!

This is the first time a group of student-artists from Albany High have participated in OVA, and it was thrilling for our trailblazing artists to represent our school community with pride.

“Really being able to work together, collaborate, work out all the nuts and bolts for how it actually works for the competition was really cool,” shared senior Sienna Stewart. “I think we are all really proud of our products.”

OVA is an incredible opportunity for student-artists to showcase a collaborative project in one of eight categories: drawing, painting, illustration, sculpture, fashion, architecture, photography and design. It also includes an on-demand design challenge that is completed the day of the event.

For the competition, our Falcons embraced the theme of “natural connections” by crafting two incredible pieces: a table setting with an ocean theme for the design category and a large-scale illustration based on the children’s book “Owl Moon” by Jane Yolen for the illustration category.

For the on-demand challenge, the theme was “celebration of life” and our Falcons loved getting down to the cellular level, unleashing an amazing biology-themed creation!

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to guiding teacher Kristine Monahan, as well as Albany Fund for Education and Stewart’s Shops for providing funding to help make this enriching experience possible for our Falcon artists!