WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Neal Dunn (FL-02) announced Kate Kirchhoff of Lawton Chiles High School as the winner of the 2019 Congressional Art Competition for the Second Congressional District of Florida. Kate’s artwork, titled “Feather Head,” is a self-portrait constructed entirely of images of birds.

“Kate’s ability to take the wildlife around her and turn it into a powerful self-portrait is inspiring. It’s clear that she has a gift and I look forward to seeing her artwork hanging in the Capitol for visitors from across the country to see,” said Dr. Dunn. “We have talented young artists across the Second District and I was impressed by all of this year’s participants. It’s inspiring to see the creativity and imagination of our young artists in North Florida.”

This year, Congressman Dunn’s office received 32 submissions from across the district and the competition was judged by local art professionals. Second place was awarded to the 2018 Congressional Art Competition winner, Madison Retherford of Marianna High School, for her painting titled “Billie.” The 3rd place winner was Madison Rogers of Marianna High School with her painting titled, “Blue Glass Still Life.”

“I am very thankful to have received this honor and I really appreciate Representative Neal Dunn’s support of young artists,” said 2019 winner Kate Kirchhoff. “Growing up on a lake in North Florida has allowed me to really appreciate the diversity of wildlife that our state possesses. There is never a lack of wading birds, songbirds, or birds of prey in my backyard. Being able to observe such an abundance of birdlife outside my kitchen window definitely influenced me to decide on creating an image with this concept. Many of the species that I grew up watching are included in this image along with my two small parrots.”

“Kate is a wonderful student and very gifted in thought and concepts as well as Adobe skills,” said Lawton Chiles Art Teacher Julie Childers. “This assignment was based on a Renaissance artist's techniques and Kate brought it forward to current time. She built an image from multiple parts to make a whole. This also reflects our country since it takes many different types of people to make a unified and strong country. So, I feel this is a great choice for placement in the Capitol.”

The United States House of Representatives sponsors this competition each spring to recognize and honor talented young artists from each congressional district across the country. The winning piece will be hung in the United States Capitol building along with other artwork from across the country. The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982 and since then more 650,000 young artists have been involved.

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