Gallery of Past Entries CCHD Multimedia Youth Arts Awards
We Remember and Celebrate
All Our Past Contest Entrants
2009: Complacency’s End is a four-minute song about how low-income people can come together to address the causes of poverty in their communities.
Written and performed by thirteen-year-old Clare Hagan, an eighth grader at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Louisville, Ky. The song was inspired by the difficulties communities are facing as a result of the recession, and by the work of Women in Transition (WIT), a CCHD-funded group in Louisville which runs a skills-building program and organizes around issues like affordable housing.
Clare said about WIT: “They aren’t just handing out money. They’re showing people how to get the skills they need. It’s not just a short fix. . . They’re also passing fair laws, not bad ones.”
Read more about Clare and her song in the September 2009 issue of CCHD’s quarterly newsletter, Helping People Help Themselves.
Read the lyrics.
Hear Clare Hagan performing "Complacency's End"
2008: Game Over shows a boy playing a video game in which he has completed Level One, which involved feeding the poor.
Stacy Plummer, a senior at Catholic Central High School in Troy, NY, said about her drawing: “People treat poverty like it's easy to solve, like a game. . . No one takes it seriously enough. People don't know what it's really like to be in poverty. A lot of the time, people are not only supporting themselves, they're trying to support others."
Through her art, Stacy hopes to tell people to “stop turning their heads,” because “poverty affects everyone.”
Everyone has a role to play, she said, including lawmakers and citizens. “We need changes in our laws to really make a difference.”
Read the press release.
Interview with Stacy
2007: The Weight is a digitally enhanced painting that shows a person collapsing under the weight of poverty and being helped by a heavenly figure reaching out a hand. In the words of the winner, it is intended to show “that poverty is a heavy burden that some people have to bear. We need to help them and lift the weight of poverty just as Simon helped Jesus carry his cross.” The artist is Benjamin Rieke, a senior at Helias High School in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Interview with 2007 winner Benjamin Reike
2006: Help is on the Way is a digitally enhanced photograph featuring a homeless man in downtown Nashville. Over the picture the artist has included a short paragraph about her thoughts on ending poverty including the line: “A new understanding must be gained and love must be found in the hearts of those who lack knowledge or sympathy for those less fortunate.” The artist is Claire Kitzmiller, a senior at St. Cecilia Academy, Nashville, TN.
2005: Let Their Voices Be Heard! is a seven minute DVD examining the realities of affordable housing and homelessness in Hawaii. The documentary features interviews with social activists, elected officials, the homeless, and the young people themselves, as well as a song written and sung by one of the members of the artistic team. The artists are ten confirmation candidates from St. Michael’s Parish in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. They are: Bridget Clarke, Matthew Roderick, Daniel Guillen, Angela Soto, Stephen Alves, Mary Brittainy Kauli’a, Alanna Bender, Benjamin T.F. Agdeppa, Jared Crivello, and Miyeko Inafuku.
2004: Help Unlock Opportunities for All is a poster presentation that examines “the many aspects of our culture which are out of reach of the poor and disadvantaged,” according to the winners’ teacher, and implores others to help make a difference. The artists are Megan DeOrnellis Cali Stegeman and Alicia Troesser, 7th & 8th graders from Frankenstein, Missouri, in the Diocese of Jefferson City.
2003: Read the winning poem, “Breaking the Cycle of Poverty,” by John Cushma, a 12th grader from McMurray, PA; Diocese of Pittsburgh.
2002: The Pittsburg Poverty Project
A student team of 10th, 11th, and 12th graders from St. Mary's Colgan High School in the diocese of Wichita, KS made a video that describes poverty in the United States while having visuals of how poverty appears in Pittsburg, KS to go along with the words.
2001: Building Dignity
Shireen Groleau, an 8th grader form Aurora, IL in the Diocese of Rockford, IL wrote this national grand prize poem. Click on the pencil icon to read her poem.
2006: Poverty Reflection is a tile and bead framed mirror that allows the observer to see her/his own reflection in the artwork. Above the mirror are the words, “This person can help stop poverty.” The artist is Mackenzie Cherban, a senior at Villa Maria Academy in Erie Pennsylvania.
2005: Karen House is a video about a program for homeless women and children. The artists are students from Nancy Shroff’s religious education class at St. Mary Magdalen School in Brentwood, Missouri, in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
2004: Life Behind Education was awarded to Mairead Coleman, a ninth-grader at St. Peter-Marian Junior-Senior High School in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the Diocese of Worcester. This pencil drawing that depicts a homeless woman receiving a scholarship to attend college.
2003: What You Do For Least of My Brothers …, a multimedia presentation that encompasses literature, a black and white ink poster (seen here) and a PowerPoint presentation that explains we can work to change the opinions of others and help those less fortunate than we on an individual basis—one student at a time. The team of artists are 8th grade students from Ascension School in Chicago: Erin Dittmer, Zelda Fredette, Terry Haufner, Clare McFadden, Kristin Norman, Sarah Pedicini, Elizabeth Planek, Kelsey Rosenquist, Griffin Smith, Sarah Wallace, and Daniel Woznica. And Mrs. Pat Pesce is their instructor. Click on the poster icon to see the winning poster and words taken from the PowerPoint.
2002: For Theirs is the Kingdom
Robert Powell, an 11th grader from Holyoke Catholic High School in the diocese of Springfield, MA used charcoal on white paper to show interlocked hands fading into hills. "The union of hands signifies the coalition between the fortunate and less fortunate. It is by this union that we might overcome the rough terrain of injustice."
2001: In the Spirit of Jesus
Joseph Peters, from Central High School in the Diocese of Springfield, MA used his artwork to show the human spirit triumphing in the shadows of the cross. "This piece speaks of the triumph and elation that comes from shared responsibility and community development which are the core of CCHD's approach to ending poverty in the U.S."
2006: The Face of Poverty and Happiness is a print depicting a split image of a young girl. One side of the image shows her life in poverty. The other side of the image shows what her life could be like without poverty. The artist is 8th grade student Ashley Garcia, a student at Queen of Heaven School in Albuquerque, NM, in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
2005: Third place was awarded to Misha Digman a seventh-grader at Mary Queen of Peace School in St. Louis, Missouri, for her visual arts composition that illustrated how faith, family and CCHD are the keys to heal the community.
2004: Cause – Effect – Solution for Poverty the USA is an oil, gesso and paper collage which illustrates that economic injustice in our country can be alleviated by the power of the Cross. The artists Whitney Guin, Justin Labrador, Aurora Lenk, Timothy Mettenburg, Joseph Pino, Pablo Roman and Angelica Virata were members of the 9th grade Confirmation class at St. Michael’s Parish at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in the Diocese of Savannah.
2003: Poverty in Orlando, a collection of pictures and information about poverty in the United States and Orlando. This was done by Erica Lankenau, a 7th grader of Orlando, FL; Diocese of Orlando.
2002: Untitled
A student team of 7th and 8th graders from Ascension School in Archdiocese of Chicago, IL painted this to illustrate what we need to fight poverty in our nation. "As Christians we identify with the poor and must be responsible for and be of service to them."
2001: Kid Pix Slide Show
Our Lady of Good Counsel Room 308, 7th graders from the Diocese of Cleveland created a slideshow to display Catholic Social Teaching and the work of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
2003: Poverty and Solutions, a poem made into a PowerPoint that uses each letter in poverty and solutions to describe his personal thoughts on poverty. The creator is Peter Brosnan, an 8th grader of Worcester MA; Diocese of Worcester. Click on the people icon to see words taken from his Powerpoint.
2003: Justice Quilt, which has one person standing in the middle, who represents a person in poverty. There are hands around this person; each one is offering a basic necessity in life. This was made by Barbara Janiszewski, a 10th grader of Marysville, MI; Diocese of Detroit.
2003: Read the entry, “Blackness Black,” by Alfonso Lopez, a 10th grader from Glen Rose, in the Diocese Fort Worth, Texas.
2002: The Poverty Racetrack
Rachael Lynch &
Clare O'Neill
St. Anthony's Parish
Grand Rapids, MI Diocese |
2002: Poverty
Alicia Bartholomew
9th Grader
St. Peter-Marian High School
Worcester, MA Diocese |
2002: Hearts
Mary Kate Hunter
8th Grader
St. Cecilia's Parish
Venice, FL Diocese |
2001: God's Justice
Allison Hedges
St. Pius X High School
Kansas City-
St. Joseph, MO Diocese |
Click on the pencil icon to read:
2001: The Man
Kelly Phillips
Stockton, CA Diocese |
2001: Teaching a Man to Fish
Philip Caine
St. Vianney Elementary
Baton Rough, LA Diocese |
2004: Breaking the Chains of Poverty
Frank Dennis
8th Grade
Corpus Christi, TX Diocese
|
2004: Cycling for Justice
Maeve Sattler
7th Grade
Pittsburgh, PA Diocese |
2003: Frozen
Rosamaria Mastrocola
10th Grade
Worcester, MA Diocese
|
2003: Untitled
Jevie Asunto
Jacksonville, FL Diocese |
2001: Care For Our Earth
Amanda Roe
St. Pius X High School
Kansas City-
St. Joseph, MO Diocese |
2001: Helping People Help Themselves
Alexandra Goblet
St. Pius X High School
Kansas City-
St. Joseph, MO Diocese |
2001: We Are Called to Serve
Ascension School Students
Chicago, IL Archdiocese |