Venture High School student Jayden Mata is starting the school year with a national honor!
Mata was selected as a national finalist in the prestigious Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes “ArtEffect” competition. This competition challenges students across the country to research heroes who changed the course of history and bring their stories to life through visual art. Only 52 middle school and 149 high school students from 32 states across the country and 15 countries around the world were selected as finalists.
This recognition marks a major milestone for Venture High School, as Mata is the first student in the school’s history to be selected as a finalist in a national art competition.
“I was shocked that I was a national finalist. It felt really good to hear the news,” Mata said. “I drew Hiawatha, a Native American storyteller, because I love the messages Native Americans had against violence, and I wanted his story to be heard.”
Mata said he decided to enter the competition after encouragement from his art teacher, Lauren Kulesz.
“Our students are incredibly talented, and seeing Jayden celebrated on a stage of this magnitude is wonderful,” Kulesz said. “It validates the hard work happening in our arts program and shows our students what is possible.”
Kulesza said that Mata is an exceptionally bright student and a talented tattoo artist who aspires to own his own tattoo studio one day.
Congratulations, Jayden!