Governor Jim Justice, along with the West Virginia Department of Tourism and the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, Tuesday announced the winners of the fourth annual Almost Heaven Governor’s Art Exhibition. Those winners included a student at Braxton County Middle School.
Awards were given to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in three divisions: Elementary School, Middle School, and High School. winners will receive Blick Art Materials gift cards in the amounts of $100, $50, and $25, respectively.
Natalie Garrett, a 6 grade student at Braxton County Middle School, captured first place in the statewide Middle School Division with her painting titled “New River Gorge Bridge – Hidden Shapes in the Clouds”.
Natalie is the daughter of Chris and Yuki Garrett of Gassaway.
Designed to showcase student creativity and the arts, this year’s exhibition called for one-of-a-kind postcard designs, depicting the theme: “What does America’s newest national park – the New River Gorge National Park & Preserve – mean to you?”
Selected postcard artwork will be used by the Department of Tourism to personally invite travelers to Almost Heaven, West Virginia.
An exhibition of the winning pieces and other selected entries is now on display outside the Governor’s Office at the State Capitol in Charleston. The exhibit features 275 entries from students in 12 counties.