Winners announced in MLK Voices of the Movement Art Competition

Winners of Goshen College’s first annual Voices of the Movement Arts Competition were announced during the college’s King Celebration on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. This competition was open to Goshen College and Elkhart County high school students.

Categories included short film, spoken word/performance, music, and 2D or 3D visual art. Students competed in two pathways: the “Descendants of Dr. King” path, designated for Black and African American students, and the “Allies of Dr. King” path, open to all students who wish to express and further the vision and message of Dr. King.

Entries were juried by a panel of community members, with a $200 cash prize for first place and $100 prize for second place in each category. The grand prize winner from the Descendants of Dr. King and the Allies of Dr. King paths were each awarded an additional $100.

“I’m really encouraged and impressed by the entries we had in this year’s inaugural competition,” said David Kendall, director of career networks and co-organizer of the competition. “Our winning pieces were inspiring and really spoke to the themes in Dr. King’s work. The Goshen College Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee is looking forward to next year’s competition and hoping for even wider participation.”

Winners in the Descendants of Dr. King path include:

• Grand prize, Sight in the Movement category: Gloria Bontrager-Thomas, a Goshen College senior theater major from Milford, Delaware, with “An Ode to Blackness: A Collage Collection,” mixed media.
• 1st place, Voice in the Movement spoken word category: Jakyra Green, a Goshen College sophomore English and secondary education major from Elkhart, Indiana, with “Wishful Worries,” “White Walls” and “These Experiences Are Not Illusions.”

Winners from the Allies of Dr. King path include:

• Grand prize, Sight in the Movement category: Helen Stoy, a senior at Bethany Christian High School, with “Missing Pages,” oil painting.
• 1st place, Voice in the Movement spoken word category: Mariela Esparza, a Goshen College sophomore English and secondary education major from Elkhart, Indiana, with “The White Sea” and “1963 Is Not An End But A Beginning.”
• 2nd place, Voice in the Movement spoken word category: Anastasia Stevens, a Goshen College TESOL and secondary education major from Rushville, Indiana, with “Education Inequality: A True Story.”
• 1st place, Sight in the Movement category: Karmen Campos, a Goshen College first-year business and art major from Goshen, with “Yearning To Be Seen,” pen and ink.
• 2nd place, Sight in the Movement category: Priscilla Tanujaya, a Goshen College senior music and art major from Jakarta, Indonesia, with “Massive March, Japan (y.2963),” computer-generated design.