Wenatchee, Washington… On June 7, 2023, WAEF and Corteva Agriscience representatives announced the grand prize winner at Cashmere High School with Mr. Allan Pace, the art teacher, and art class peers in attendance. Cashmere High School junior Mykla Smith is the Grand Prize winner in the 28th Annual Washington Apple Education Foundation (WAEF) Year of the Apple (YOTA) Art Contest sponsored by Corteva Agriscience. Mykla received a check for $1,000 for her watercolor painting titled Apples at Sunset. Her artwork will be published on the 2023 Corteva Agriscience calendar poster.
Dan Snipes of Corteva Agriscience, shared, “Every year, these students submit amazing artwork that fully represents our tree fruit industry. We at Corteva are proud to sponsor and publish the grand prize winner.“
Forty-four artwork pieces created with colored pencils, acrylic paint, watercolors, colored chalk, painted wool, and oil paint were submitted this year. The artwork was submitted from
Cascade, Wenatchee, Ephrata, Omak, Zillah, Sunnyside Christian, Cashmere, Sterling Jr., AC Davis, Kiona-Benton, Walla Walla Valley, Eisenhower, and Grandview High Schools from students in 9th to 12th grade. This year judges LaVerne Bergstrom, Lars Hakensen, and Todd Fryhover selected artwork winners. In addition to choosing the grand prize winner, the judges also selected two additional winners. Each of the winner’s high school art departments received a $150 gift card to purchase art supplies for their department. All winner artwork can be viewed at https://waef.org/event/year-of-the-apple/.
The 2nd place winner was freshman Lucy Korzh from Sterling Jr. High School. Her piece was titled Apples for Mom and was created with gouache paint. Ms. Korzh received a $500 check for her art submission.
The 3rd place winner was senior Marlene Martinez from AC Davis High School. Her piece was titled Crismon Valley and created with oil pastels. Ms. Martinez received a $250 check for her art submission.
Annually, Corteva Agriscience produces a poster calendar featuring the grand prize winner’s artwork. The calendar is distributed to industry members throughout Central
Washington. To receive a copy via the mail, please contact the WAEF office at (509) 663-7713.
Entry forms and contest rules for the 2024 Year of the Apple art contest will be available on December 1, 2023, on the WAEF event website. The deadline for students to submit entries is May 3, 2024.
The Washington Apple Education Foundation is the charity of Washington’s tree fruit industry dedicated to coordinating, promoting, and developing educational opportunities reflecting the values of tree fruit industry members.
