Huntington High School art students turned in a spectacular performance at the Long Island Media Arts show at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, winning 21 Best in Show Awards in an exceptional display of talent and creativity.
The remarkable showing is even more impressive when one considers the event drew hundreds of entries from more than two dozen metropolitan area high schools. The Huntington students are enrolled in courses taught by Pam Piffard (photography), Heather Swan (video and animation) and Kasmira Mohanty (graphic arts).
Huntington's Asia Thomes created this image.
Huntington photographers were simply sensational, winning 14 Best in Show Awards, including three each by Asia Thomes and Morgan Oh and two each by Kenny Farjado, Stephanie DiMartino and Julia Rogan. Alyssa Sorensen and Nancy Glascock also captured Best in Show Awards.
“The Long Island Media Arts Show was an amazing experience and it really showed me what areas I was strong in with my photography and what needed improvement,” Ms. DiMartino said.
Huntington photographers have a tradition of winning awards at the show, which Five Towns College has hosted for many years. “I enjoyed being able to talk to professionals about my work so I can become a better photographer,” Ms. Sorensen said. “I also loved seeing other people’s work.”
With so many of her students winning awards, Mrs. Piffard was quite pleased with their overall performance. “I am as always so very proud of my students,” the veteran teacher said. “Not only did they display beautiful work, but they were also so engaged in the work that the other schools had on display. I love to see my students so inspired by their peers and so confident in their own work. Huntington High School absolutely had a strong presence at this year’s show. It is not easy to take criticism from professionals and our students all took the advice and criticism with poise.”
Morgan Oh is one of Huntington's top photographers.
The Huntington contingent came close to overwhelming the strong field submitting work. “I really enjoyed getting advice by professionals,” Ms. Glascock said. “It gave me confidence in my Advanced Placement concentration and will help me improve my future work.”
Huntington graphic design artists were also outstanding with Michael Bradford capturing three Best in Show Awards and Olivia Perez winning two. Camille Moscato and Aniyah Toro grabbed one award each. “Art allows us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time,” Ms. Perez said.
Ms. Mohanty praised the exceptional graphic artists for the high quality of the pieces they displayed. “I’m proud of my student’s work,” she said.
While none of Huntington’s five entries in the video category won an award, judges said they were nevertheless impressed with the short films. “As always we presented Huntington High School very well with five strong videos,” said art teacher Heather Swan, who leads Huntington’s video and animation program. “I am very proud of my students and their dedication to the program.”
Huntington’s filmmakers enjoyed the experience of showing their videos, which the show’s rules limited to five minutes each. “The Long Island Media Arts Show is a place where creativity and competition meet,” filmmaker Caitlyn Palermo said.
The show is coordinated annually by Eastern Suffolk BOCES’ arts in education program. Teachers can select the work of up to a dozen students each in both photography and computer graphics and five entries in video/computer animation. (Films can have multiple participants.)
Teachers are asked to choose students “who have a serious interest in media arts and would benefit from a portfolio evaluation.”
