HONOLULU (May 13, 2017) — At the Hawai‘i State Capitol Saturday morning, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-2) hosted an awards ceremony in coordination with the Hawai‘i Art Education Association and Youth Art Month, where she announced the winning pieces (shown below) of the 2017 Kaha Ki‘i Second Congressional District Art Competition and honored the high school artists who created them with cash prizes. The first-place, second-place, third-place, and “People’s Choice” pieces of art will be showcased at the U.S. Capitol, in Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s Washington, DC and Hawaiʻi offices, and online (respectively).
“Congratulations to our 2017 Kaha Ki‘i Second Congressional District Art Competition winners Tori Wills, Chais Pascua, and Daymien Rodrigues, our remaining ten finalists, and the more than one hundred students from across the state who submitted incredible artwork this year,” Gabbard said in her address to the art students at today’s awards ceremony. “Your artwork is an amazing platform to communicate. It moves people. It inspires. It provokes thought, conversation, debate, and sometimes, even controversy. What you’re doing is powerful, and I’m so proud to be one small part of making this happen so we can encourage you to continue expressing yourselves through your art, which is showcased here in Hawai‘i, in Washington, as well as across the country and around the world through our Facebook page. Keep striving to increase your already amazing abilities — you have more supporters and champions than you know.”
Each spring, Gabbard sponsors the Kaha Kiʻi Congressional Art Competition to recognize and encourage creativity across Hawai‘i as part of a nationwide high school art competition with other Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The “People’s Choice” winner was determined by a contest on Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s Facebook page.
