The Pittsylvania County School All County Arts Show was held on March 3, 2026, at 5pm at Gretna High School. Tunstall junior Madison Karnes’ A Cowboys Snow Travel placed first and Riley Parsons’ Made of Stardust placed second.
Ms. Midkiff entered 12 students into the art show. Her favorite thing about teaching art is “helping kids think creatively.” Students entered into art shows are typically Art II or III students. Midkiff helped “build [their] art foundations” and “build their independence.” She stated, “I’m kind of hard on them in a way, but it’s to better them.”
Madison Karnes had one piece submitted. A Cowboys Snow Travel was created using pastels. The pastels helped her learn a different medium. “I don’t really work in colors for my personal art, so it was funto do something like this,” stated Karnes. For the first two hours she said it was fun, and then after that it was tiring and she wanted to be done with it. Karnes said, “A few times I wanted to scrap the whole thing, but I’m glad I didn’t!”
She took Art II sophomore year and is planning to do Art III and IV senior year. Her favorite thing about art is “getting to look at a beautiful picture and say that I made that.”
Riley Parsons had three pieces submitted called Made of Stardust, Conjoined, and Snow Angel. Made of Stardust was her favorite piece that she made: “That one was the most fun one for me to make, it was a vibe.” Parsons can use the art show to build her portfolio. Adding glitter to her art was what she enjoyed most about the creating process. “Sometimes I make a glitter concoction and lather it on my paper,” stated Parsons. In total, it took her about five days to create all three- two days on Made of Stardust, three days on Conjoined, and only two hours on her watercolor painting Snow Angel.
Senior Amaris Duenas-Salas had four pieces submitted by Ms. Midkiff: Radio Waves, Melancholy, Under the Sea, and Panaderia. Her favorite painting was Radio Waves because she likes how she “did all the neon colors” and that character means a lot to her. She wants to be an art therapist: someone who helps people express themselves through art when they can’t verbally.
Art shows help her build a portfolio to show to colleges. “With my portfolio, it goes to show how I’ve progressed over the years. It’s what colleges look for,” Duenas-Salas stated. She said that leading up to the art show was stressful while “trying to [balance] all [her] regular projects and art show projects.”
Most art students use the art show opportunities to build their portfolio. Art shows throughout the county can assist students that are looking into going to college for degrees in the art field.
