{"id":56668,"date":"2026-04-28T09:58:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=56668"},"modified":"2026-04-28T10:00:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:00:52","slug":"young-artists-honored-at-6th-district-art-competition-reception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=56668","title":{"rendered":"Young artists honored at 6th District Art Competition reception"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Andrew Grunza of West Chester East High School and Lily Robins of Phoenixville Area High School proudly display their Congressional awards.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Chester County Art Association in West Chester hosted the Chester County High School Art Exhibition and PA 6th District Congressional Art Competition reception on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. The event drew art enthusiasts from across the region to view nearly 500 student works, including sculptures, oil paintings, colored pencil pieces, and photography.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“This exhibition is a celebration of the incredible artistic talent across Chester County’s high schools,” said Kathy Gurnee, special events coordinator for the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU). “Seeing the creativity and hard work these students pour into their art is truly inspiring, and we are honored to provide a space to showcase it.”<\/div>\n

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Participation in the exhibition also opened a door for students in the 6th Congressional District, who were eligible to submit their work to Rep. Chrissy Houlahan’s Congressional Art Competition. The nationwide program, sponsored by U.S. House of Representatives each spring, awards the grand prize winner the distinction of having their artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year.<\/div>\n
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The awards ceremony was the highlight of this year’s exhibition, honoring student artists whose work was selected for display. Awards were presented for both Rep. Houlahan’s Congressional Art Competition and the Chester County High School Art Exhibition, judged by the Chester County Art Association.<\/div>\n
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For some attendees, the event carried special personal meaning. “Being back is a full-circle moment,” said Niya Zurcher, art teacher at Coatesville Area Intermediate High School and a former exhibition participant. “Being able to hang the artwork and select the pieces to display was such a fun experience.”<\/div>\n
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The evening was especially meaningful for Zurcher, who had the added joy of watching one of her own students take home an award. “I’m so proud to see that one of my 10th-grade students won first place for her collage, and for her very first time presenting,” she said. “She created it as a commission for a music teacher at our school, which makes it even more special.”<\/div>\n
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Three students were recognized in PA 6th District Congressional Art Competition. Josiah Fung of Wilmington Friends School claimed first place, Lily Robins of Phoenixville Area High School earned second, and Andrew Grunza of West Chester East High School took third. Fung’s winning piece, “Friends for Life,” will hang in the U.S. Capitol for one year, while Robins’ “Boots” and Grunza’s “Coming Home” will be on display at Rep. Houlahan’s local offices.<\/div>\n
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The Chester County High School Art Exhibition is coordinated by the CCIU and partially funded by a grant from CCRES Educational and Behavioral Health Services. For a complete list of art show winners, visit www.cciu.org\/Art-Show<\/u><\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Chester County Art Association in West Chester hosted the Chester County High School Art Exhibition and PA 6th District Congressional Art Competition reception on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. The event drew art enthusiasts from across the region to view nearly 500 student works, including sculptures, oil paintings, colored pencil pieces, and photography. “This exhibition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7426,16303],"class_list":["post-56668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured","tag-pa-6th-district-congressional-art-competition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56668"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56670,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56668\/revisions\/56670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}