SMITHFIELD — Amy Henderson's art is taking her places. It took her to Colorado last year, next week it will take her 2,500 miles to Miami, and soon it might take her to Washington, D.C., and the White House.
The Sky View High School senior was selected as a finalist in this year's Young Arts competition for Presidential Scholars, a program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Out of 7,800 high school artists from around the country who submitted their work in nine categories, 144 were selected as finalists.
Henderson is one of only 16 finalists in the visual arts category.
Those finalists will go to Miami Jan. 7-13, where two from each category will be selected as Presidential Scholars, an honor that comes with $10,000, a trip to the White House and a meeting with the president.
"It's really exciting for me because I'm just a little Mormon girl from Utah," Henderson said.
Henderson's success is especially remarkable because she comes from a public high school, said Zan Burningham, the Sky View art teacher. Nearly all the other finalists come from private schools that focus specifically on the arts, Burningham said. Henderson is the only finalist from Utah.
Burningham said Henderson excels because she works hard and is meticulous in her attention to detail. She has grown substantially as an artist during her high school years, he said.
"Anything she tries, she does well at," Burningham said.
Henderson said her favorite medium to work with is pencil, though she also works in water color, oils and colored pencil. She has also recently begun working in pastels and charcoal. Henderson focuses on detail and tries to make her art as realistic looking as possible. "I draw for the finished product," she said. "I like the visual pleasure I get from looking at my artwork." Henderson said she also draws because art calms her. For the competition, she was required to submit 10 pieces of art, five of which had a common theme. She drew five still-life pieces using props that were lying around Burningham's classroom.
In Miami, Henderson and the other finalists will be interviewed and their work will be evaluated before the finalists are selected.
This is not the first award Henderson's art has brought. She has won top awards at state high school art shows in Springville and smaller art competitions. During her junior year she was one of a few students selected to attend the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation summer seminar in Colorado, a week of art instruction and critique by professional artists.
Henderson said being in Burningham's art classes has helped develop her skills because she works hard to teach students art fundamentals.
"I don't think there's anything bad you can say about Zan because she cares so much about her students," Henderson said.
The other Young Arts categories are cinematic arts, dance, jazz, music, photography, theater, voice and writing.