Tracy Sugarman Award Recipient Named in WAC's Annual High School Student Art Exhibition

Westport, CT -- The Westport Arts Center has announced the student artists selected for the third annual Westport High School Student Exhibition, currently on display at the Westport Arts Center through June 23.

Staples High School student Sophia Livecchi was chosen as the recipient of the 2017 Tracy Sugarman Award for her work in pastel, “Woven Terrains.” She was presented with the award and a $100 prize at the exhibition opening on April 21.

Distinguished Westport artists Ann Chernow and Leonard Everett Fisher served as the jurors for the exhibition.

Leonard Everett Fisher stated, "I am always amazed at the imagination and urgency communicated in the art of the teenagers as seen in recent years at the Westport Arts Center. Serious or witty, their affection for the Visual Arts is evident. Their path to artistic maturity in all its complexities begins here. Civilization will survive in their passionate hands!"

The Call For Entries was open to students throughout Fairfield County.  Westport residents and/or students that attend a Westport High School were eligible for the Tracy Sugarman Award.

The competition was generously sponsored by The Honorable Alan and Janet Nevas in memory of Tracy Sugarman.  Sugarman was a 62-year Westport resident who was an illustrator, writer, civil rights activist and WWII veteran.  He is best known for his painting and illustrations recording American history from D-Day to the space shuttle.  Mr. Sugarman passed away in January 2013 at the age of 91.  

Selected high school artists include (name, school, town/city of residence):

·       Sara Adriani, 11^th Grade, Joel Barlow High School, Easton

·       Mariella Alderucci, 10^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Kayla Arias, 12^th Grade, Academy of Information, Technology and Engineering, Stamford

·       Sebastian Avila, 12^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Maggie Baron, 11^th Grade, Academy of Information, Technology and Engineering, Stamford

·       Elisha Brockenberry, 9^th Grade, Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet School, Bridgeport

·       Kyle Burton, 11^th Grade, Hopkins School, Fairfield

·       Aaliyah Celestin, 12^th Grade, Academy of Information, Technology and Engineering, Stamford

·       Jorge DeCruz, 9^th Grade, Norwalk Housing Authority, Norwalk

·       Aidan Delgass, 9^th Grade, Weston High School, Weston

·       Alyssa Domenico, 12^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Anna Greenspan, 11^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Casey Haims, 12^th Grade, Academy of Information, Technology and Engineering, Stamford

·       Emily Haug, 12^th Grade, Joel Barlow High School, Redding

·       Toby Innes, 11^th Grade, Wilton High School, Wilton

·       Saige Kanik, 9^th Grade, Weston High School, Weston

·       Marissa Lagoja, 9^th Grade, Notre Dame High School, Fairfield

·       Caiti Levin, 10^th Grade, Weston High School, Weston

·       Audrey Liao, 11^th Grade, Joel Barlow High School, Redding

·       Sophia Livecchi (2017 Tracy Sugarman Award winner), 12^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Gabriela Marroquin, 12^th Grade, Academy of Information, Technology and Engineering, Stamford

·       Mary McGee, 12^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Alexandra McMahon, 12^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Carly Mori, 11^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Louikenson Paul, 9^th Grade, NHA Learning Center, Notwalk

·       Maisie Prince, 9^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Mari Sachs, 10^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Hannah Schmidt, 10^th Grade, Staples High School, Westport

·       Ellie Shapiro, 12^th Grades, Staples High School, Westport

·       Destini Smith, 11^th Grade, Academy of Science, Technology and Engineering, Stamford

·       Caroline Teed, 9^th Grade, Joel Barlow High School, Redding

·       Maha Ulhaq, 10^th Grade, Joel Barlow High School, Easton

The High School Student Exhibition is on view at the Westport Arts Center simultaneous with the Main Street to Madison Avenue exhibition, which features two bodies of work with radically different motivations: paintings, illustrations and photography commissioned by Madison Avenue advertising agencies for iconic commercial branding and advertising campaigns, many of which originated in Westport, alongside works from the well-known Pop Art and Contemporary artists who appropriated this advertising imagery. 

For more information on the exhibitions, or other student events and classes, please contact the Westport Arts Center at 203.222-7070 or westportartscenter.org.

About the Westport Arts Center 

The Westport Arts Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting community through the arts, reaches more than 11,000 people annually through outstanding programs in visual arts, arts education, and the performance arts of Chamber and Jazz music.

The Westport Arts Center also receives philanthropic support from the Katherine and Howard Aibel Foundation; Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation, Inc.; AB Bernstein; the Brant Foundation; CBP; Cohen and Wolf, P.C.; Connecticut Cigar Company; Connecticut Office of the Arts; Delamar Southport; Disney Worldwide Services, Inc., DanceSport; Dragone Motor Cars; Fairfield County Bank; Finn, Dixon & Herling LLP; Fleishers Craft Butchery; 4th Row Films; GWAY Marketing Gymnasium; Hal Prince Music; the Hall Art Foundation; The Hofstetter Baron Group; J.P. Morgan; Land Rover Milford; Lillian August; the Mitchell’s Family of Stores; Moffly Media; Newman’s Own Foundation; Rosenkranz Foundation; Saugatuck Wine & Grape; Shack Sackler Foundation; Sontag Advisory LLC; Stamford Tent; Sun Hill Foundation; Verde Energy USA, Inc.; Vespa Restaurant; Wells Fargo Advisors; Westport Family Counseling; Westport Now; William J. Rosenbloom Charitable Trust; Xerox Foundation; WPKN; and WSHU Public Radio Group.

For more information, contact the Westport Arts Center at 203/222-7070 or www.westportartscenter.org.   The Westport Arts Center gallery is open Monday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 51 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT.