Participating NSU Workshop & Art Exhibition

Today was such a special and happy day, because I went to the Northern State University in Aberdeen and did not go to school. About two weeks before, my digital photography teacher, Mrs. Shimitz, asked me to join the Northern State University Workshop & Art Exhibition. She said NSU (Northern State University) have this activity every year, and it is for all high school students. We can submit our artwork, it can be any type of art, like water paint or digital photo. NSU will exhibit them in their art department, and choose 3 best arts on the final day.

My artwork in the exhibition

Since today was the final day of the exhibition, NSU prepared some interesting activities for all visitors to join. 6 Ipswich high school students, Mrs. Shimitz, and I went there today. After taking my first our class, we gather at Mrs. Shimitz's room, and she drove us to Aberdeen. This is my first time taking the school vehicle, is was pretty big! There were no boys except me, so I felt a bit boring on the vehicle. After arrived NSU, we took some time finding where to park, because there were too many people. The NSU campuses are very big, it have many building, and it is very beautiful. When we were walking through the campuses, I even saw 2 squirrels were running!

The flyer of the exhibition

One the way to Aberdeen~

Me and other students

The decoration in NSU's school building are also very beautiful, especially art department, the fireplace that surrounded by glass are very modern and looks luxury. The school's teacher took us to look around, there have all kinds of classroom in art department building, the "Mac room" caught my attention, there were so many Macintoshes, and it is for graphic design courses, which is my hobbies! After signing in, we quickly took a look of all artworks, and headed to the auditorium for the film making courses. There were many courses to choose from, we have to pick 2 courses to attend, and I chose "Film making" and "Backpack design". The presenter of film making course show us some short video that got awards in South Dakota Film Festival, and taught us some basic knowledge of making a film. I love this course very much.

Signing in

Me and my artwork.

My artwork: "Urbanization"

At the auditorium

We then went out to have lunch. They chose Qdoba, which is a Mexican grill restaurant. I have been there one time before with host family, we ordered the nachos, but since it taste very salty, I do not like it. But the tacos that I ordered today was fantastic! It was soooo delicious! And I love the design of the restaurant, looks very fresh.

Qdoba

After lunch, we went back to school and take the second course of the day. The second course was "Designing the backpack". We can make our own style on the backpack that we got in the morning when we were signing up. The process was very special, we have to draw on the transparent paper first, then coat the backpack with paint, and put them together. When all finished, it have to be put in a special machine, after waiting for a while, the pattern that we design would show up. I designed some word arts about my exchange year, the finished product are very beautiful!

The special machine

Final, we went back to auditorium again for the closing ceremony. By the time we got there, there were already many people. The school prepared many t-shirt to raffle, one of my schoolmate, Tylor Petersen, was very lucky, she got a t-shirt. Then, it was time to announce the winner of the Exhibition. The school first announce three "honorable mention",  and one of my schoolmate were included. Since those works are all very good and nice, I thought it would be impossible for me to get the top three prizes. But when the presenter change the slide to "third place", I saw my name on it. That feeling is unforgettable, It was unreal, my first thinking was, "that is not me". But my schoolmates next to me keep saying "it's you!" "Congratulation!", and told me to go to the stage. When I was walking, I felt so nervous, because everybody were looking at me. It was so unbelievable that my photo artwork got the third place! By the way, they spoke my name wrong, it is Phil Kuo, "Kuo" pronounces Guō, not Gǔ. :) The second place was given to an oil painted artwork, and the first place was a vase.

My award, artwork and Me... looks stupid...

The full size version. I used only iPiccy.com and Google+to edit this photo!

When I came back, my schoolmates keep saying "WOW" "Good Job"... and Mrs. Shimitz said that she never had student got the top three prices. I was so excited, and I also got USD$50 bonus because of the prize. We then went back to the exhibition and took our artworks back. Before leaving the university, Mrs. Shimitz said there are a exhibition about Lincoln in the library, so I went with her, and other people were staying at the art department. The library are very big, and the design is beautiful, I like it very much. I asked Mrs. Shimitz whether this was her college, she said yes, and the classrooms in art department that we just visited were used to be her classrooms!

The library

Since we have some more time, before heading to Ipswich, other 6 girls wanted to stop at the Orange Leaf and have some ice cream. I never been there before, it is a self-ice cream shop, we can choose whatever we want, from flavor to toppings, and the price is calculated by the weight. I chose three flavors, namely cherry chocolate, banana, and birthday cake. I love banana flavor very much, it is not too sweet, but tasty.

Colorful! :)

Today was unforgettable, and I had a lot of fun. After I got home, I posted what happened today on Facebook, and Mrs. Shimitz replied "I'm so proud of you!". She also posted a post:

"I'm a very proud teacher today! We attended the NSU Art workshop and exhibition, and one student received an honorable mention, and one received third place! Only six awards total, and more schools participating than ever! I also saw two former art students helping at the workshop. I couldn't be prouder to be an Ipswich Tiger!" - Angela Guthrie Shimitz 5 Nov, 2013

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It was really a good day! And thanks to Mrs. Shimitz for submitting my artwork!

Other artworks from Ipswich High School:

06 Nov, 2013 Update:

Today morning during everyday's morning announcement, the teacher said my name, and told everybody that I got third place and got USD$50. After announcement, my first-hour classs teacher, Mrs. Ullrich, told everyone in class to clap for me. That was so unforgettable!