Two 2024 Savannah Arts Academy Graduates Recognized in International ARTEFFECT Competition

The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes (LMC) has named 20 middle and high school winners in the 9th annual nationwide ARTEFFECT competition. Two Savannah Arts Academy students, Kelly Kullman and Moheb Asimi, have been awarded $750 Certificates of Excellence in the 2024 International ARTEFFECT Competition in recognition of the superior aesthetic and conceptual quality of their submissions celebrating “Unsung Heroes from History.”

The international competition invited students in grades 6-12 to explore and champion the stories of LMC Unsung Heroes—individuals who took heroic actions that made a positive and profound impact on the course of history. Students creatively interpreted the inspiring stories of Unsung Heroes through original works of art accompanied by artist impact statements. In total, $26,250 in cash prizes were awarded to 20 winners across the middle and high school divisions.

Certificate of Excellence awardees Kelly Kullman and Moheb Asimi, both members of the Savannah Arts Academy 2024 graduating class, selected ichthyologist Dr. Eugenie Clark and Islamic Golden Age mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi as the inspiration for their respective projects.

Kullman’s etching, “Squalus clarkae” depicts Dr. Clark engrossed in her fieldwork studying a shark.

Find more information on Kelly’s project “Squalus clarkae” here.

In Asimi’s mixed-media work, “Completing the Square” al-Khwarizmi stares up at a golden square in the sky, “watching his own mathematical treatises successfully unfold before his eyes, surrounded by a large audience who also watches alongside him in awe while the rays cast a shine on their clothes,” reads Asimi’s impact statement.

Find more information on Moheb’s project “Completing the Square” here.

“ARTEFFECT is a robust opportunity for students to explore the stories of Unsung Heroes as role models as well as the power of artmaking,” said ARTEFFECT Director Dr. Toni Guglielmo. “As students develop their artworks and impact statements, they also experience how they themselves can make a positive difference by creatively interpreting and sharing these inspiring stories with others through their visual art projects.”

“The award-winning ARTEFFECT artworks are exceptional in their integration of the Unsung Heroes stories and artistic skills,” said LMC Chief Executive Officer Norm Conard. “Our team at the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes applauds the creativity of these student champions and the excellence of their work.”

The ARTEFFECT judging panel consisted of LMC’s executive leadership as well as visual arts experts at the Skirball Cultural Center, CalArts, Museum of Ventura County, and ArtCenter College of Design.

In addition to the cash prizes, award winners have their projects showcased on LMC’s website, listed along with their sponsoring teachers. Award-winning artworks are displayed in LMC’s Hall of Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott, Kansas, and will be featured in future exhibitions.

The next ARTEFFECT competition will open for submissions in November 2024.

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About ARTEFFECT: Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes Established in 2016, ARTEFFECT is an expanding arts education initiative that includes an annual student art competition, professional development offerings, and exhibitions. ARTEFFECT invites learners and their communities to engage with the stories of the LMC Unsung Heroes— individuals who took heroic actions that made a positive and profound impact on the course of history. These diverse stories span the centuries and cut across multiple disciplines including STEAM, social justice, the environment, wartime history, and education. Each year, hundreds of students in grades 6-12 from around the world build their creative and critical thinking skills by crafting visual art submissions for the competition. Launched in 2023, the ARTEFFECT Ambassadors online fellowship offers a learning community for educators who are committed to fostering the visual arts through teaching and learning around the stories of the LMC Unsung Heroes. The yearlong fellowship provides professional development and curricular resources to support Ambassadors in deepening their instructional practice and completing a capstone project in their classrooms and communities. The ARTEFFECT initiative affirms the message that one person has the power to make a positive and profound difference in the lives of others.