Five North Carolina students are soaring after their artwork earned them top honors in the 2021 National Aviation Art Contest, as well as a chance to compete in an international contest.
Put another way, more than half of this year’s national winners are from the Tar Heel State.
After placing in the top three (across the three age categories) of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s State Art Contest earlier this year, winning students’ paintings were sent on to the national competition hosted by the National Association of State Aviation Officials in Washington, D.C. Their art will now be sent to Switzerland to compete in the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale’s International Art Competition.
The winning students this year are:
- Kyndall Anthony of Kannapolis, Forest Park Elementary (3rd Place, Junior Category)
- Anish Upadhyaya of Cary, Alston Ridge Middle (1st Place, Intermediate Category)
- Ava Lanzy of Indian Trail, Wesley Chapel Elementary (3rd Place, Intermediate Category)
- Amy Lee of Cary, Panther Creek High (2nd Place, Senior Category)
- Isabel Chang of Cary, Cary Academy (3rd Place, Senior Category)
Two students from N.C. advanced to the international round in each of the previous two contests.
This year’s theme was “A Friendlier World with Air Sports.” NCDOT received 764 entries from 137 schools and 124 hometowns. A total of 8,362 students have participated in the N.C. Aviation Art Contest since 2016. Artwork from all N.C. finalists can be found on the NCDOT Flickr page.
