MOUNTAIN AREA — The results are in and the top entries in Vision Academy’s inaugural Daffodil Photography Competition have been recognized. The contest was open to adults and children, and entries were received by Mar. 31.
Each spring our foothills come alive, peppered in gorgeous displays of yellow and white daffodils, organization board member Nicole Hoke noted at the onset of the contest. She explained that Vision Academy of the Arts spearheads a movement to bring greater beauty to the mountains by planting daffodil bulbs in honor of loved ones.
In order to celebrate the beauty and achievement of the community’s planting efforts, Vision Academy of the Arts sponsored the daffodil photography competition. Vision also produced a map to facilitate finding your way through the daffodils this year.
In this first year of the competition, there were nine entrants ranging in age from teens to seniors, from all over Eastern Madera County. A panel of 5 judges, all photographers, who represented a variety of experience levels from novice to professional, and specialties including landscape, wildlife, and portraiture.
- 1st Place – Jill Smith, 38, Coarsegold
- 2nd Place – Rebecca Casey, 14, Oakhurst, OCI student
- 3rd Place – Karen Feskorn, 53, daffodil planted by son Aidan, 10, as a 4H project.
Throughout the year, Vision Academy concerts raise money for scholarships to encourage young people to pursue their own love of art in all its forms. To date, Vision Academy has given away more than $160,000 in scholarship to local high school students.
Earlier this month, Vision Academy of the Arts Scholarship honored their 2017 recipients: Jamie Hellwig, Katie Thompson, and Thomas Lazar are pictured, along with Scholarship Chair Nancy Iden and Vision leader Jackie Byers.
Members of Vision Academy are dedicated to the development of all art forms: they perform and support musical and instrumental concerts, hold workshops on the arts for people of all ages, lead a three-week summer camp, and volunteer their services to make Oakhurst and neighboring communities more beautiful.
The next Vision Academy-sponsored concerts of the Sierra Chamber Singers are set for Saturday, May 20 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 21 at 2 p.m. at the New Community United Methodist Church. The concert is free and donations are accepted. Along with the concert, guests may take a shot on a raffle of a daffodil quilt. The drawing for the full-size Daffodil Quilt will take place over Veteran’s Day Weekend.
Vision Academy of the Arts summer camp takes place over three weeks starting Monday, June 12, starting with the theme “Americans All.” Camp continues the week of June 19 with “Joust,” and the final week begins June 26 with “Destination America!”
For more information: Vision Academy on Facebook or Vision Academy of the Arts website.
Vision Academy meets on the third Thursday of each month.
