A trio of Dartmouth High’s art students are getting some well-deserved recognition, with two honored with Scholastic Art Awards and another getting her work accepted into a juried art show.

Quincy Antunes, a senior in Morgan Bozarth’s Digital Photography class, received an honorable mention for his narrative photography series, “Rebirth of Dracula.” 

This was conceived as part of a classroom assignment where the students learned about creating a series of photographs that tell a story.

“I have always loved different tales and stories from various cultures, especially folklore due to its dive into the uncanny,” Antunes said. “The things that make you question and have you interpret pieces of a story so that it makes sense to you is amazing — I believe the variations of Dracula were very intriguing so I decided to create my own take on the legend.”

Megan Emin, a senior in Christine McFee’s AP Studio Art class, won a Silver Key for her digital drawing, “Flame.”

Emin’s design features a sorceress holding a flame between her hands. According to the high school senior, the piece was inspired “by the feeling of isolation during the quarantine period of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

She added that she has been working with digital tools since eighth grade, noting that she likes the flexibility to “make major adjustments to my work even after it's finished.”

Emma Smola, who is also a senior in McFee’s AP Studio Art class, has had her artwork accepted into the Emerging Young Artists 2023 Juried Exhibition at the UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts. 

Smola’s drawing is a self-portrait executed in charcoal, graphite, and oil pastel — all materials the Dartmouth High Senior loves to work with.

“It allows me to get detailed, making the piece more realistic,” she said. “It's a very forgiving medium and can be used to do so many things.”

The piece pictures Smola’s face surrounded by red hands reaching for it. The idea, she said, was to “convey the feeling of being trapped in the same face/body for the rest of your life, and that overwhelming anxiety that is pretty much self-inflicted.”

To see Smola’s work, visit www.umassd.edu/cvpa/galleries/campus-gallery/exhibitions/2023/emerging-young-Artists-2023-juried-exhibition.html.