A Blake High School senior's pachyderm painting will be part of an exhibit in Washington, D.C.
By GRACE AGOSTIN
Published April 30, 2004
What started out as a classroom art assignment has become an award-winning painting to be featured at the U.S. Capitol.
Blake High School senior Anthony Zollo, 18, has received the Congressional Choice Award for his acrylic painting on canvas titled Dreams of a Disenchanted Elephant.
In May, Zollo's painting will travel to Washington, D.C., as part of an exhibit of about 300 award winners from congressional districts nationwide.
Zollo's painting was selected from the works of 66 Hillsborough County high school artists for the Tampa Museum of Art's 2004 Next Generation and 11th Congressional District High School Art Exhibition on April 19.
"It's the kind of piece that just speaks to people," said Virginia Shearer, the museum's deputy director for education and public programs. "You feel for the elephant and you want to know what's happening. It's one of those great pieces that gets in your mind and you want to speak about it after seeing it."
The painting shows a maroon-colored elephant towering over a hillside with an orange glow in the background resembling a sunset.
The piece was part of an assignment for an advanced painting class at Blake that required students to paint an animal in a fauvist style, which uses bright colors and broad brush strokes. After looking through magazines, Zollo was drawn to a photograph of an elephant.
Zollo's art teacher, Jennifer Melko, encouraged him to enter his work for the museum exhibit. Museum officials reviewed about 130 pieces before selecting the 66 for the competition, Shearer said.
"I didn't expect (to win) because last year I entered and didn't get anything," Zollo said.
Zollo and his family, who live in Tampa, will go to Washington in June to see his painting, which will remain on display for a year. It will be on view at the Tampa Museum of Art until May 9.
As winner of the award, Zollo is eligible for a $12,000 scholarship to the Savannah College of Art and Design or a $10,000 scholarship to the University of Tampa.
Zollo, who has been painting for almost two years, said isn't sure which he'll choose. He also was accepted to the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota.
