{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://kean.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-kean-announces-winners-2023-congressional-art-competition", "Rep. Kean Announces Winners of 2023 Congressional Art Competition", "2023-05-09", "2023", "2023-05", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Thomas H. Kean, Jr.", "K000398", "kean.house.gov", "kean", "https://kean.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Contact: Dan Scharfenberger\n\n(May 9, 2023) Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. announced New Jersey\u2019s 7th District winners of the 2023 Congressional Art Competition. The first-place winner of the competition is Sharanya Ram of Bridgewater-Raritan High School. Her piece, \u201cIn Your Eyes,\u201d will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year. Winners are chosen by a panel of judges from the 7th Congressional District.\n\nSelected as runners-up are Maggie Liu of New Providence High School for her piece, \u201cJust Float\u201d and Angela Xu of Bridgewater-Raritan High School for her piece, \u201cPrism.\u201d These two pieces will be hung alternatively in Congressman Kean\u2019s Washington, DC and New Jersey offices for a year. Three additional \u201cHonorable Mentions\u201d were also recognized by the judges.\n\nIn describing her piece, done in acrylic paint, Sharanya said, \u201cIt is a hyper-real snapshot of my eyes. I was thinking of the way loved ones may see me as I was painting this.\u201c\n\n\u201cWe have incredible homegrown talent in New Jersey and it was reflected in every submission our office received,\u201d said Rep. Kean. \u201cCongratulations to our honorees and thank you to all the teachers, judges, and parents who supported the students, volunteered their time, and made this competition a success. All the artwork submitted truly reflects the creativity and passion within our community, and I am very proud to showcase such talented artwork in our nation's capital.\u201d\n\nRachel Heberling and Alicia Ferrell served as judges for this year\u2019s competition.\n\nRachel Heberling is the Executive Director of Frontline Arts in Branchburg, New Jersey, where she directs the operations and programs, writes grants and oversees exhibitions, events, fundraising and membership with her creative staff. Ms. Heberling was previously the Printmaking Center\u2019s Studio Program Manager and Frontline Arts\u2019 Studio Director. Ms. Heberling received her M.F.A. from The Ohio State University in Columbus and has exhibited her work in venues such as the National Arts Club, NYC; Hoofprint Workshop, Chicago, IL; King St Stephen Museum, Sz\u00e9kesfeh\u00e9rv\u00e1r, Hungary; Roy G Biv, Columbus, OH; and The Corcoran Gallery Museum, DC.\n\nAlicia Ferrell has been teaching art for over 15 years and currently works as an elementary art teacher in Livingston, NJ. In 2017, she was recognized with the Art Educators of NJ (AENJ) Elementary Art Division Award. Ms. Ferrell also has experience working behind the scenes in theater, directing and building sets for school play productions, and currently teaches visual design at the Class Act Drama Camp in Bedminster, NJ. Ms. Ferrell earned her B.A. and M.A. in Fine Arts Education at Kean University.\n\nYou can view all of the 2023 submissions from NJ-7 HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T23:55:44Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://kean.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-kean-announces-winners-2023-congressional-art-competition"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.337976660579443, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}