NORTH PROVIDENCE, RI — Two students attending North Providence High School, Jonathan Antunes and David LeClair, have been awarded the Silver Key Scholastic Art Award. Jonathan’s piece, as seen on the right, is a painting of an artist who goes by the name of “Tyler, The Creator,” holding his lips open with two fingers dressed in a blue cap and a beige overcoat. David submitted a series of poems which all narrate the emotions he felt in his life at the time of writing them.

We asked Jonathan via email about the inspiration behind his piece of art. He said, “One of my favorite artists is Tyler the Creator. I’m a teen who is into the most unique, unusual, aesthetics there and since Tyler the creators fits that realm obviously I had to paint him. But when I completed it turned out to be one of my most favorite pieces I’ve ever made. Complements and shock everywhere, everyone was shocked and couldn’t believe I painted that.”

Art teacher at North Providence High School, Ms. Ryan Clinton, tells us, “At the beginning of the school year, I assess the talent levels of all my students and I encourage the advanced artists to submit their work to the Rhode Island Scholastic Art Awards.  Jonathan took my class for the first time this year and he has a wonderful eye for detail and great drawing and painting skills.  I looked at some work he was making from home and suggested that he submit his painting of Tyler the Creator.  In his portrait of the musician, Jonathan shows excellent control and great technique.  He chose to use gouache paints which is a unique paint with a consistency of a watercolor and an acrylic.  I suggested he submit this painting because it showcases Jonathan’s unique style and approach to painting.”

Regarding the award,  Jonathan told us, “I was so nervous about the award. [Ms.] Clinton helped me and so many props to her. She’s the one that introduced it to me about the award.”

He described the moment he won the award as jaw-droppingly unexpected. “Then I see something and my mouth dropped, I WON. I was so proud of myself and shocked, to even get an award even a silver key is hard to get. I quickly emailed [Ms.] Clinton and she was so excited about the news!” More of Jonathan’s artwork can be found at his Instagram page, @angelizms.

“I was so happy and proud to hear that he won the award, I announced it to our watercolor class.  Through the pandemic, that class had been a wonderful group of students who really built each other up. That conversation just lead to my discovering that David LeClair (another NPHS student) also won a Silver Key and honorable mention in poetry!” said Clinton.

David LeClair’s poems, featured here and here, won the award under the poetry category. David’s poetry was written over the course of a year.

We asked David via email to express his inspiration behind the pieces of writing and how he felt to win the Silver Key Award for poetry.

David tells us, “These works, few as they are, were written over the course of a year. They are the summary of my emotional and material experience during that time, and each comma, space, and uncapitalized letter are purposeful to carry the impact I felt while writing them. They are the epitaph I will leave for this chapter of my life. I feel very grateful to be recognized in the Scholastic Awards; it has certainly encouraged me to continue learning, developing, and to create new writing.”