ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Township High School Art program recently wrapped up its 2023-2024 year, with students boasting nearly 50 awards from competitions including the annual RTHS Art Show, the I-8 Conference competition, the Rockford Art Museum Young Artist Show, the Kishwaukee College Juried High School Art Show, and the Northern Illinois University Art Invitational. 

RTHS Art entered the most competitions in its history in 2023-2024, which Art Department Chair and teacher Beth Mock called “a really strong year.” It placed second overall at conference. 

“We had a couple of standout kids, but for the most part the program itself was very strong at competitions and we held our own,” Mock said. “It's exciting to see so much success. I think it's good for kids that normally don't see themselves get that recognition and that sort of feedback outside of our walls. We see the greatness they do. It's important for them to see how they rank among their peers and how they can see themselves flourish.”

RTHS freshman Natalie Faivre won the City of Rochelle’s Hometown Photo Contest for her work “Quiet Fall Cornfields.” The City Council held a photo competition to find an image that showed a young person's point of view of Rochelle.

In November, RTHS students competed against all high schools in the northern part of the state at the NIU Art Invitational. RTHS was allowed to enter four works, and freshman Ben Miller’s “Enlightenment” digital photography won the Best in Show Freshman Art award and he received an NIU Art Camp Scholarship. 

In February, RTHS competed at the Kishwaukee College Juried High School Art Show among all high schools in Kish’s district. 25 entries were allowed per teacher, and RTHS won 10 out of the 26 awards given, including all awards in photography. Junior Denia Rincon won second place in color drawing for “DENIA TIME!” and senior Wyatt Garrelts won second place in sculpture/ceramics for “Wired Jellyfish.” Freshman Sawyer Stockton’s “Curiosity Kills” won first place in photography and Freshman Ashli Cacique’s “Almost Invisible” won second place in photography. Sophomore Teagan Auld’s “Midnight Enchanted Pond” won first place in printmaking/digital.

The 83rd Rockford Art Museum Young Artist Show in February saw approximately 300 artworks by over 200 high school students and RTHS entered nine works. 

The RTHS Art program offers 10 courses from beginner-level classes up to AP classes, all taught by Mock and art teacher Andrea DeKing. Not many area schools offer a dedicated AP class like RTHS does, and RTHS is one of the only schools in its conference with a photography program and dark room. 

“For the NIU Art Invitational, all of the college kids that go to school there see our stuff and if we enter one in Rockford, that community can see what Rochelle can do,” Mock said. “A lot of larger schools compete in these events and I feel like our work stacks up and it's important for our students to see that even though Rochelle is small and our art program only has two teachers, we can compete against bigger schools and still have a footprint.”

RTHS competed at the I-8 Conference Competition in March, where it displayed 14 works in different categories in a chance to win ribbons. Rincon won first place and best in show in drawing in color for “Motor Garden.” Garrelts won first place in sculpture no clay for “Wired Jellyfish.” Sophomore Kyler Dickson’s “Ellie May” won first place in photography-unaltered. Sophomore Bobbie Henning’s “Time for Change” won first place in photography altered.

“It's really exciting,” DeKing said. “We get to see their talent every day. But when they win recognition, we get to share it with everyone in the community and that raises the level of excitement. I think once we come back from conference, they get excited for the next project and that love of it just grows.”

In the 16th District Congressional Art Competition, Rincon’s “Motor Garden” won honorable mention and she will have her work displayed at Congressman Darin LaHood’s Rockford office for a year. Rincon was also the recipient of the Rochelle Kiwanis Golden K Club’s Art Scholarship to attend NIU’s Visual Arts Camp in the summer.

Students participated in the 38th Annual RTHS Art Show to close the year. Volunteer judges were Mr. John Dobbs, Ms. Lillian Andrew, Mrs. Teresa Haggestad, Ms. Marlen Hueramo, Mr. Mario Rocha, and Dr. Chris Lewis.

Rincon won best in show and first place in color pencil for “Media.” Senior Kasey Jones won the Principal’s Award for “Train Station.”

“It's awesome to see kids progress through the art program from their freshman year through their senior year,” Mock said. “I've done this for a long time. My favorite part is that lightbulb moment when they say, 'I could be really good at this.’"