Congratulations to Freshmen Gabbi Thompson on being this week’s First National Bank Performer/Fine Arts Student of the Month.
Below is her nomination from art teach, Jill Kokesh:
Gabbi Thompson has been nominated for the First National Bank Fine Arts Student of the Week because of her outstanding drawing skills and dedication to her artwork. This week the Pierre VFW Post no. 2038 announced Thompson, the local winner of the Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest. Gabby’s drawing depicts local WWII hero John C. Waldrom and Chiefs Red Cloud and Flying Hawk. Gabbi’s artwork moves on to the next level of competition in which she will compete against art students from around the state to determine who will move on to the national competition. The first-place winner from each state competes for national awards totaling $33,000. Entries are judged on the originality of concept, presentation and patriotism expressed; content of how it relates to patriotism and clarity of ideas; design technique; total impact of work. The following is Gabbi’s artist statement describing award winning artwork:
As someone who was born and raised in South Dakota, it is a rare occurrence to hear about a famous person who was born here. This artwork is centered around John C. Waldron, a United States Navy aviator who was born in Fort Pierre, South Dakota. He led a squadron of torpedo bombers in WWII to the victorious Battle of Midway, but sadly perished with the 29 men in his squadron.
I originally chose to use John C. Waldron for this artwork after hearing about his courage in the Battle of Midway. After doing more research I found out about his history of being a Oglala Lakota from his mother’s side. The two men surrounding John C. Waldron are two important Lakota chiefs, Chief Red Cloud and Chief Flying Hawk. As someone who is surrounded in Native American culture, I believe that their values, symbols, and interpretations should be largely recognized. The colors red and black are shown throughout my piece. Red symbolizes courage and security, and black symbolizes honor. John C. Waldron and many Native American chiefs displayed these characteristics in their battles and fights.
Symbols are very important to the Oglala Lakota culture. In the border there is a white hourglass shape, like an X shape. The symbol is called Kapemni. Kapemni symbolizes the Lakota’s relationship with the universe, specifically the stars and the skies. For someone like John C. Waldron, who flew fighter planes and spent much of his time in the sky, I believe this symbol suited him well. By using graphite and colored pencil, I was able to introduce John C. Waldron, and show the importance of his Native American heritage.
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