They entered their artwork into a contest and brought home the winning title…

Two students from Heights High School recently beat out students from across Houston to win a highly respected art contest for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This contest was a blind judging contest where students from all over Houston ISD submitted their artwork to be judged by teachers. The second judging process was through NRG, where these Heights students won with their artwork.

Ashton Ruff, a sophomore at Heights, was approached by his art teacher, Patti Hernandez, to join the contest. He decided to sculpt a rattlesnake. “When I think of the Rodeo, I think of the desert, so I chose a rattlesnake,” said Ruff. His artwork has a base board to hold the wire pole where he sculpted the clay and created the shape of the rattlesnake. Adding specific details to the sculpture was a challenge for Ruff, but he was proud of the outcome, which earned him a gold medal.

The second student, Rachelle Roman, a junior here at Heights, also entered the contest with her sculpture of an armadillo. She planned out her idea and began to create her sculpture with a model made of wires which she then sculpted with clay. Roman’s sculpture, “Armored Resilience,” won for Best of Show 3D and her artwork recently went to auction. She is excited about art opportunities that may come her way in the future.

Both Ruff and Roman say this win was a surprise, and they would recommend others enter an art contest for a thrilling experience and a way to get more exposure for their artwork. These two students took around four to six weeks to create their sculptures, and it was well worth it!