On April 1st, the 43rd annual Olympics of the Visual Arts Competition took place in the Saratoga Springs City Center. Hosted by NYSATA, OVA has 8 separate creative categories: painting, drawing, photography, fashion design, illustration, architecture, sculpture, and graphic design. This year, the competition boasted an attendance of a shocking total of 228 teams across all ages, including elementary, middle, and high school. Among them, teams from Shaker High School participated in the architecture, drawing, painting, and illustration categories.

Warm sunlight filtered through the countless windows lining the outer wall of the City Center. The building teemed with activity, and the chatter of excited students and teachers filled the grand space. As buses arrived, teams of students carefully weaved through the crowded entry hall with their projects in hand. The competition itself consisted of a long term project specific to each category, as well as an on-demand project that the participants completed on the day of the actual event, using only a list of simple, accessible materials.

For the long term aspect of the competition, teams could begin planning for their project as early as January. As long as it somehow related back to the prompt in their category, the participants had a lot of creative freedom with their artwork. Some projects were small enough to easily carry with one hand, while others towered over the students. In the drawing category, there were 2d projects as well as impressive 3d projects that pushed the boundaries of what a “drawing” could be. For example, the first place drawing team in the middle school section was an actual, moving carousel that had drawing elements around the outside. 

Rows and rows of tables were soon filled with beautiful artworks as the students eagerly awaited their next challenge. The on demand design prompt is a very unique aspect of OVA, supported by the organizers’ belief that art should be “HOT” – something dynamic and hands-on, with the creative process of the artwork on full display. Rather than merely viewing already finished art pieces, the participants could actively be immersed in the art around them and the experience as a whole. The prompt for the challenge this year was to create a “color town”. Using the provided crayons, magazines, tape, glue, and paper, the participants were able to create some extravagant, colorful pieces. Looking at the finished artworks, it was hard to imagine that they only had an hour and a half to create them. The picture below was the work of the team that won the “Best in Show” award for this challenge. 

The event itself took the entire day, with the winners being announced at the end. From Shaker High School, the Architecture team won second place, and the Drawing team won the award for being “Most Creative”. Being able to see the fruits of the students’ labor was rewarding, and the experience itself was very enjoyable. The Shaker participants are eagerly looking forward to the next Olympics of the Visual Arts competition.