Megan
Hensley |
Megan Hensley of Arnold said her prize from the Mastodon
Art Science Regional Fair four years ago "excited" her about
her art career possibilities. It also motivated her and
her mother to help with future fairs.
Megan was the 2004 Neo-Renaissance art winner at the fair.
She said the idea of having her artwork judged by a varied
panel of adult art experts "got me excited" about possibilities
for the future.
Megan is now 20 and a junior at Southwest Missouri State
University in Springfield, Mo. She's majoring in photography
and minoring in art history.
Megan
as 2004 Neo-Renaissance winner |
"After I won in 2004, my mother and I both got interested
in helping with future fairs," she said.
Her mother, Paula, is now the director of the art portion
of the regional fair. The Mastodon fair is the largest combination
art/science fair in the U.S. The 2007 MASRF fair week is
scheduled for March 13-18.
Fair activities will be held in the Jefferson College
field house on the Hillsboro campus.
Exhibits will be on display from Tuesday, March 13, through
Sunday, March 18. Interviews of the Neo-Renaissance art
finalists will be Friday, March 16. Interviews of the International
Science and Engineering finalists will be Saturday, March
17.
The awards ceremony for the 2007 fair will be on Sunday,
March 18.
(If you are interested in attending any of the fair
week events, visit www.MASRF.org.
or call MASRF director Jill Thomas at (636) 797-3000,
ext. 474.)
Megan plans to help at the fair. "Usually, the fair happens
during our spring break so I can come back to help," she
said.
Four years ago, she was one of the kids interviewed for
the Neo-Renaissance art award. Her winning entry was highlighted
by photos of "old, abandoned buildings," she said.
This year, she might be one of those interviewing the 2007
fair candidates for that award. She also may be involved
in hanging art entries and in judging.
Megan said she got interested in art when she was very
little.
"My dad and I watched Disney cartoons and then we'd draw
the characters in pen or pencil," she said.
"For the longest time, I wanted to be a Disney animation
artist. But, with the invention of the digital camera, animation
has sort of lost its magic," she added.
Now, most of her art efforts are with a camera.
Last month, she had a "wall" of her pictures on display
at the Gateway Gallery in St. Louis. Earlier, she had Springfield
showings at the Well Fed Head bookstore and gallery and
The Creamery in the Springfield Arts Council Building.
Her photos also have been featured in Best College Photography
magazine.
She is president of the Missouri State Photography Society
at her Springfield school.
She said her best art experience was organizing the appearance
in Springfield of noted photographer Keith Carter. Carter
is known as the "poet of the ordinary" because of his ability
to "give a mythical touch" in pictures of ordinary objects,
she said.
The society organizes one artist appearance on campus each
year.
She said she's proud of her society's annual Christmas
activity that involves taking portraits of local homeless
families. She said the families appreciate the efforts even
if the pictures show them in poor economic conditions.
"Otherwise, in future years, they won't have any visual
memories of the family's early years," she said.
Megan is hoping to get an internship this summer as a photo
assistant in an ad agency.
After completing her senior year, she said, "I'll only
be 21 and I hope to take a year off to work in the art field
before going to college." She's leaning toward college either
at the School of Visual Arts in Chicago or Columbia College
in New York City.
About her future career in art, she said, "I have all
kinds of things I want to do. But, eventually, I want to
have my own gallery."
Asked for any advice she might give to younger people interested
in art, she said, "Don't let people tell you that your art
interest won't work out. There are amazing things that are
being done with digital photography.
"There are so many different fields of art available now."
