USCellular announces winners of the 2024 Black History Month Art Contest

Dean Hensley, Hendersonville Times-News
·2 min read
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On Feb. 22 at the Boys and Girls Club of Henderson County, USCellular, along with Hendersonville Mayor Barbara Volk, announced the winners of the 2024 Black History Month Art Contest.

The winners of the Henderson County Boys and Girls Club's Black History Month Art Contest, sponsored by USCellular, were (from left, bottom row), Sophia Croese (third place) and Heavenly Michael (first place). Amerie Islas (not pictured) earned second place. In the top row (from left) are Boys and Girls Club CEO Carolyn Ashworth, USCellular store manager Josh Wilson and Hendersonville Mayor Barbara Volk.

Boys and Girls Club of Henderson County artists submitted their entries, and 10 finalists were chosen to be in the online contest, where people voted for their favorite works of art. The top three vote getters were award winners.

Coming in first place was Sophia Croese, who received a $250 Visa gift card. Amerie Islas was second and received a $150 gift card, and Heavenly Michel received a $100 gift card for third place. Croese's drawing of Mae Jemison was one of 31 first-place award winners across the nation. Her artwork was featured on USCellular's website at this link: https://newsroom.uscellular.com/uscellular-black-history-month-art-contest/.

This is Sophia Croese's artwork of Mae Jaminson.
This is Sophia Croese's artwork of Mae Jaminson.

According to a news release, Boys and Girls Club members were encouraged to create original pieces of artwork representing influential Black STEM icons. These included historical figures, world leaders, scientists and educators who have made vital contributions to the world of science, technology, engineering and math.

Croese chose Jemison, who was the first African American woman to travel into space in 1992 when she served as a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

“UScellular’s Black History Month Art Contest sparked a drive among our members to learn about Black leaders in history. Each youth participant researched their STEM icon before creating this artwork, said Jennifer Kelly, community and donor engagement officer for Boys and Girls Club of Henderson County.

“Boys and Girls Club of Henderson County is proud to partner with USCellular to enhance our STEM program for our members. We have been fortunate to receive grant funding from USCellular for STEM, as well as funding to innovate our organization's digital capabilities.”

The 10 finalists were chosen by representatives from the Boys and Girls Club of Henderson County, based on creativity, quality, interpretation, clarity of theme and overall impression. Public voting for the finalists was made available online during the first two weeks of February, and the finalists’ artwork was digitally displayed in USCellular’s Hendersonville location at 1900 Four Seasons Blvd.

Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Winners announced in USCellular's Black History Month Art Contest