The George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) recently announced the winners of its annual visual art and songwriting contests, awarding 13 high school juniors and seniors from across Louisiana with $25,000 in college scholarships. Winners from the songwriting contest, in partnership with the Trombone Shorty Foundation, will have the opportunity to perform at the foundation’s upcoming annual fundraiser, Shorty Fest.
The 2021 contest theme was “Alone Together: Art in the Time of Pandemic,” which encouraged students to reflect and explore their thoughts on this difficult year and create works of art and music inspired by their reflections.
“This year’s art and songwriting contest winners were truly special,” says Jacques Rodrigue, GRFA’s executive director. “It hasn’t been easy for these students, learning virtually from home, and missing the in-person support and friendship that is so vital during high school years. These students overcame many challenges faced and created art that was all-encompassing of the year we’ve all had. My hope is that these artists will continue to inspire and uplift others just as they have done with us through this contest.”
Students were asked to consider a series of questions when creating their original art and songs, such as how disaster and disease has shaped art throughout history, how their lives changed as a result of COVID-19, and what has personally been the most difficult part of this year.
A panel of celebrity judges, including Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, Aaron Wilkinson, Robin Barnes, Paul Sanchez, and Don Markowitz (American composer best known for co-writing the Academy Award winning song, “I’ve Had the Time of My Life”) selected three finalists to share $6,000 in college scholarships. Judging criteria was based on structure and composition, melody, and lyrics.
The winners are as follows, with Soundcloud links to the songs:
1st Place – $3,000 Keelan Jiles, Jr. (Junior, Warren Easton Senior High School, New Orleans) “Viral War”
2nd Place – $2,000 Thai Booker (Senior, Ponchatoula High School, Ponchatoula) “21’”
3rd Place – $1,000 Owusu Diallo (Junior, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, New Orleans) “What We Feelin”
“What a year it’s been, and it is so uplifting to see the creative expression that comes out of challenging times,” says Bill Taylor, executive director of the Trombone Shorty Foundation. “These young songwriters have produced such talented and inspired work.”
Winners in the art category include:
1st Place Senior – $5,000, John Landry (Teurlings Catholic High School Lafayette), “Quarantine Blues”
2nd Place Senior – $4,000, Faith Bass (St. Mary’s Dominican High School, New Orleans), “Pandemics: History Repeats Itself”
3rd Place Senior – $3,000, Angel Caine (Woodlawn High School, Baton Rouge), “Mania”
4th Place Senior – $2,000, Alaina Le (St. Thomas More High School, Lafayette), “Disconnected”
5th Place Senior – $1,000, Catherine Rollins (St. Joseph’s Academy, Baton Rouge), “Autism and an Alien World”
1st Place Junior – $1,500, Isabelle Stelly (Southside Highschool, Youngsville), “Reflections in Quarantine”
2nd Place Junior – $1,000, Chloe Babin (Vandebilt Catholic High School, Houma), “The Persistence of Covid”
3rd Place Junior – $750, Adisyn Estes (Sam Houston High School, Lake Charles) “Silenced by Circumstance”
4th Place Junior – $500, Iris Kobrock (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, New Orleans), “New Storms”
5th Place Junior – $250, Yazmin Carmona (Woodlawn High School, Baton Rouge), “When the World Stopped”
Founded by George Rodrigue in 2009, the GRFA Scholarship Arts Contest has received 5,881 submissions and awarded $530,000 in total scholarships to almost 200 students. For more information visit here.
