Prospect Ridge Academy Middle School had a pair of young, talented artists have their work recognized this month when seventh grader Ella Bilbrey and eighth grader Samantha Webb each had original artworks accepted into the National Art of Educators Association Juried Exhibition.
The National Junior Art Honor Society (NJAHS) received a record-setting 173 submissions from schools throughout the world for the 2025 NJAHS Juried Exhibition, with only 48 submissions being selected.
Of those 48 submissions, PRA had two Miners in Bilbrey and Webb get selected for the virtual exhibit, which went live on March 11 and is available to view online through August.
Bilbrey’s submission is a clay sculpture of an angel covering its face. Ella displayed her technical sculpting skills and determination to finish the project, which took over two months of work.
Webb’s submission is a graphite and marker self-portrait, showing how her creativity and inspiration has changed over the years since being a young kid. Samantha displays exceptional technical skill in the shading and rendering of the drawing, and she enhanced the meaning of her piece by tearing and crinkling the top edge of the paper, creating a distressed emotion in the viewer.