Breaking News: Senior Jade Achen wins first place in the Visual Arts Shooting Star 2D art category

Senior Jade Achen won first place in the Visual Arts Shooting Star 2D art category scholarship competition held by Johnson County Community College on April 2. Along with her first place title, Jade took home a $1,400 scholarship.

Jade has been doing art for as long as she can remember. With her mom introducing her to art at such a young age, Jade’s art style has developed into painting with a couple of comic-style pieces mixed in.

Nominated by East art teacher Adam Finkelston, Jade submitted four watercolor paintings to the competition, each focusing around the theme of her identity. These art pieces were related to her identity by food, family and her culture. 

“I was so surprised and excited when I found out that I won first place,” Jade said. “I didn’t expect to win at all and it was nice to get that extra amount of money.”

Jade plans to put the scholarship money towards college next year, where she’ll be studying design and architecture. However, even if her plans or path change in college, she will still continue doing her 2D art in the future.

“Art has been huge for me, from meeting so many new people to giving me confidence,” Jade said. “Art has also shown me a new perspective on the world and it has let me decide how I want to perceive it through my painting and art pieces.”