Hudson student wins statewide art award

• Art Award winner Joe Murray, with his art teacher, Cynthia Burak-Gresmer

Joe Murray, a second-grader at E.P. Rock Elementary, is the first student from Hudson to win the W.T. Graham Youth Art Award as part of the Youth Art Month Exhibition in Madison. He is pictured with his art teacher, Cynthia Burak-Gresmer. His piece is entitled “The Colorful Whale.” The work was displayed at the exhibition in the State Capitol rotunda. Murray is the son of Lori and Dan Murray of Hudson. Submitted photo

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Joe Murray is the first student from Hudson to win the W.T. Graham Youth Art Award as part of the 2009 Youth Art Month Exhibition in Madison. The award-winning painting is entitled “The Colorful Whale.”

It was the first year E.P. Rock Elementary art teacher Cynthia Burak-Gresmer and her students participated in the competition. The exhibition was sponsored by the Wisconsin Art Education Association and was open to both public and private school students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

All three of Rock’s entries were among the 50 selected at the regional level to be part of the statewide exhibition. Along with Murray’s work, pieces by Kevin Krusell, grade 4, and Caitlin Blomker, grade 5, were exhibited and went on to be judged at the capital by the Department of Public Instruction, representatives of the art companies Sax and Nasco and the W.T. Graham committee.

The art of all the award winners was framed and exhibited in the Young Peoples’ Art Exhibition at the 2009 Wisconsin State Fair.

Murray was one of 40 students whose work was selected for the prestigious Graham award. Murray’s award was also acknowledged by the Hudson Board of Education at its March meeting.

Tags: arts and entertainment, elementary school, lifestyle, arts, students, hudson