The Congressional Art Competition, sponsored by New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, is a yearly event that recognizes artistic works produced by high schoolers. An exhibit is held in Trenton until the end of May and this year, several Princeton High School students from different levels of art classes were selected to have their pieces showcased. Among these students were Charlotte Regnault, Grace Waldman, Kyuyoung Chung, Luis Santos Solares, Rebecca Zhang, Ngozi O’Keke-Agulu, Drew Trenfield, and Sylvia Schreiber. Winners from each district, recognized at an awards ceremony in Washington D.C., will have their art displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year.

Works of varying mediums were selected, and each artist sought to express themselves in a unique and individual way. Most of the works submitted by PHS students were “identity prints,” meaning that they conveyed the artist’s individuality; how they perceive themselves, or how they are perceived by others.

“[The art] was all about [the artists’] identity, and how they really express themselves as people and the symbolic aspects of how they represent themselves,” said Judy Buckley, an art teacher at PHS who has taught some of the students selected, as well as encouraged them to participate in the competition.

Grace Waldman ’25 ended up choosing to submit a collage that was part of a series of self-portraits on self-reflection that she created for the competition.

“I hope to convey the different layers that there are to an identity. We're all wildly different individuals, I wanted to convey the internal and external layers of myself; represented by the words, phrases, and select images combined with my print,” Waldman said.

Waldman sees the competition more as an opportunity for young artists, from varying backgrounds and with unique ideas, to share what they have created with each other and learn from others as opposed to a contest where there is a designated winner.

“Art is something that we all have inside of us. And we all express it in a different way so it’s really great to be a part of that creative experience and share what you do with other kids,” said Waldman.