Maple Grove Senior High School artist wins top awards

Maple Grove Senior High School (MGSH) senior and artist Sarah Konz has developed her passion for art over the years in middle and high school. She likes to use symbolism in her art and paint the things she sees around her. Recently, the work she has done to develop her Advance Placement (AP) Portfolio has resulted in awards and recognition. 

“My passion for art really started freshman year. With COVID, I felt really condensed into small spaces and I felt like painting really helped,” Konz said.

As a part of her AP Portfolio, Konz has worked her senior year on a Sustained Investigation (SI). SIs account for 60% of the AP Portfolio score, and focus on artworks that demonstrate inquiry though “practice, experimentation, and revision” over time. Konz chose to do her SI on how people cope with the broken morals of capitalism. Her SI sheds light on some things she has noticed in the work industry that bother her. The SI laid out how she picked her topic and developed it, her reference photos, steps she took to create her art and the four final paintings she submitted.

Two of the pieces Konz submitted in her SI have received recognition recently. Her painting “Ignorance is Bliss,” her favorite piece she has worked on, received a first place Congressional Art Award and is on display in the capitol in Washington D.C. for the next year. Another of her paintings, “Us and Them,” won Best in Show at the District 279 art show at the Maple Grove Government Center. 

“I think art is important to learn in school because it can be a career,” Konz said. “It is not just a hobby or a passion on the side.”

Konz’s paintings, along with the works of the other talented AP artists at MGSH, will be on display in the Fine Arts Theater lobby at MGSH on Wednesday, May 29 from 4-6 p.m.