New Hampshire Students’ Art Works Honored in Capitol
ARTISTS
New Hampshire Union Leader
Haley Shoemaker
Boston University Washington News Service
September 22, 2009
WASHINGTON—A busy underground hallway tunnel that connects the Capitol with the House office buildings is also an art gallery for work by about 400 high school students from across the country, including two from New Hampshire.
Alyssa Pittera, a high school senior from Coe-Brown Northwood Academy in Northwood, said her work, Blooming Rockers, is a scene from her house.
“I wanted to do a still life because I have never used that medium before with paint,” Pittera said in a telephone interview. “The scene I set up is an antique chair, but I put my own spin on it because I made the plant coming out of the chair.”
Her art is part of the annual program, An Artistic Discovery, which began in 1982, in which House members from every state hold competitions to find student artists to represent their districts. The art chosen hangs in the tunnel gallery for a year.
Art work to represent New Hampshire’s congressional districts was chosen in a competition in the spring at Plymouth State University. School art teachers submitted student works and a panel of judges picked the art to display in Washington. Pittera’s painting was chosen to represent Rep. Carol Shea-Porter’s 1st Congressional District. Representing Rep. Paul Hodes’ 2nd Congressional District is Krista Ciacco’s drawing, Mail Bonding,
Ciacco, a 10th grader from Fitzwilliam who attends Monadnock Regional High School, said that she has taken many art courses throughout school and that her winning entry was “a still life project for my art class.”
At a ceremony at the Capitol in the summer for all of the student artists Ciacco said she met members of Congress and attended a lunch. Pittera also attended the ceremony and said she saw her art in the tunnel.
Shea-Porter said that at the ceremony she met with a number of students and their families and teachers.
“It was a celebration of the arts in the 1st District, and we talked about how art is good for the community and helps the local community because it promotes small businesses,” she said. “At the event we celebrated the students’ art and its impact on the community.”
Pittera’s close attention to detail in the fabric in her art work reflects her other career aspiration: to be a fashion designer.
“I have made clothes for myself since I was a freshman,” she said.
“I have made dresses for dances and shirts, and I am making a shirt for my friend right now. I also made a dress for a girl who was trying out for American Idol.”
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