For a class art assignment, high school student Margie Crosby said she was told to create something that represented the word "caged." When Crosby thought of caged she thought of ALS - a disease that affects nerve cells in the brain leading to degeneration of the motor neurons. Crosby was familiar with the disease because an aunt, whom she was close to, had ALS.
"I thought of ALS and how your body is dying but your mind is still alive," Crosby said. "You can kind of see her personality through her hair. It's messy and drippy but there's also all these details, just how the details inside of your mind are still there."
She titled her piece "Alive Inside" and used a contrast of black and white as well as color ink to draw a woman. Crosby said she drew the woman's body in black and white, but used color ink to represent her mind and passions.
"Alive Inside" received the attention of students and judges in William Woods University's art department, winning best in show and people's choice awards at the university's Emerging Talent High School Show this month.
William Woods closed out its Emerging Talent High School Show Thursday night with a reception and recognition of the winners.
Third place went to Kyle Curtis, Community R-VI High School, for his sculptures; second place went to Rushali Malatkar, Rockwood Summit High School, for acrylic work; and first place went to Ryder Russell, Fulton High School, for a graphite pencil drawing.
Russell's winning piece was a drawing he created of Johnny Depp in the movie "The Lone Ranger." Russell said he drew the piece as a present for his mom, who is a Johnny Depp fan. In the movie, Depp plays an ancient Native American. Russell said that due to the amount of detail in Depp's headdress, the drawing took him roughly eight hours to complete.
He submitted two other pieces to the show - one was a painting of a cardinals baseball player hitting a ball, and for the other piece, he used white pastels to draw Mark Twain. Russell said he chose Twain because he likes his books and thought it would fit in well with the Emerging Talent High School Show and contest theme, "Missouri and I."
William Woods has held the gallery show and contest for four years, with various themes, to give area high school students an opportunity to show off their work in the Mildred M. Cox Art Gallery. The school allows students to contribute art of all different mediums.
Crosby, a senior at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, said she doesn't limit herself to one medium but prefers to use ink.
"I love ink," Crosby said. "My style is kind of messy, very drippy - kind of everywhere," Crosby said. "But then I like adding small details also to clean up everything."
William Woods professor Bob Elliott was one of many art department faculty who judged the student's pieces. At the show's closing reception Thursday night, he encouraged students to hold onto their gift for art and to work hard to polish their craft. He said they need to have the tenacity to pursue their dreams.
"If you follow your passion, everything else falls into place," Elliott said.
Both Crosby and Russell are interested in studying art in college next year. Russell is considering graphic art and Crosby said her dream would be to work for Walt Disney Animation Studios.