It was a moment to remember: Principal Dr. Stephen Covert, US Representative Greg Steube and a handful of other special guests interrupted ninth-grader Mia Liang’s second period art class with Louis Miller to announce that she was the winner of the Congressional Art Competition, earning her the honor of having her piece, “Grasping at Revolt,” being hung in the Capitol Gallery for a year, as well as earning a trip to Washington D.C. with her parents to visit the gallery.
Liang began her artistic journey at the age of five but couldn’t remember exactly why she started.
“I’m not sure honestly,” she said, “but I think it’s just something I do to express my emotions that I can’t express with words or just to draw things that look nice.”
Over the course of her art journey, Liang started winning awards, including an American Vision Award and a Silver Medal in the 2023 Scholastic Art and Writing Competition. Receiving these awards only inspired her to continue.
“I think I like the satisfaction of succeeding and being recognized for my art especially in recent years, but mainly I just really enjoy art,” she said.
Therefore, when she saw an opportunity for the Congressional Art Competition, a nationwide contest with hundreds of thousands of entries every year, she seized it.
The Congressional Art Competition allows for students to enter their work with one winner being selected per congressional district. For this year, the 17th District Winner was Liang, who won with her piece “Grasping at Revolt.”
“In the artwork ‘Grasping at Revolt,’ I wanted to show the different meanings of grasping in the title,” said Liang, explaining different meanings behind her piece such as a student seeing parent’s good intentions as overbearing and the enticing thrill of an unsafe life. “The ‘Revolt’ part of the title plainly symbolizes the revolting smaller hands under the box, living a life of danger. This is my most complex thought process in an art piece so far, and I want to experiment more with these kinds of topics.”
Liang isn’t certain about where her art journey will take her, but for now, she plans to continue into college.
“I might take an art minor but I’ll probably continue drawing no matter what, I want to expand my art style a bit more and experiment,” she said.