Tinmouth’s Sadie Martone wins statewide art contest

Courtesy of the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program

Judges for the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program’s Growing Works of Art contest selected Sadie Martone’s entry as the best for Grade 3. Sadie is a student at Tinmouth Mountain School in Tinmouth. 

Growing Works of Art contest attracts over 200 entries

Vermont students shared their love of trees through their artwork and stories in the 2024 Growing Works of Art contest.

The Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program sponsored the annual contest, which attracted 232 entries from students in Grades K-7, making the judges’ decision to choose just one winner per grade very difficult. Although Grade 8 students also were eligible, there were no entries from that grade.

A total of 22 schools and five home school families participated this year. Many of the entries came from schools where the teachers incorporated the contest into their English, art or science curriculum.

In keeping with the theme, “ABC’s of Trees,” the students were asked to pick a letter of the alphabet and a tree-themed word starting with that letter to illustrate in a work of art using any medium and companion story. Entries were evaluated on creativity and originality (50%) and how well the student used art and writing to reflect on the chosen letter and word (50%).

The winners received a Vermont State Park punch pass and will have their artwork and stories featured on “Across the Fence,” University of Vermont Extension’s weekday farm and home program on WCAX-TV, on May 6.

The top entries, which can be viewed online at go.uvm.edu/growingart, were submitted by the following students:

Kindergarten: Hazel, Newport

First Grade: Stone McClurg, Northfield Elementary School, Northfield

Second Grade: Aria Williams, Roxbury Village School, Roxbury 

Third Grade: Sadie Martone, Tinmouth Mountain School, Tinmouth

Fourth Grade: Kaylie Blouin, home school student, Graniteville

Fifth Grade: Phoebe Hoyler, Ripton Elementary School, Ripton

Sixth Grade: Wesley Price, Mater Christi School, Burlington

Seventh Grade: Paige Kennedy, St. Johnsbury School, St. Johnsbury

For more information and to view all submissions, visit: go.uvm.edu/growingart.

M is for Magic

By Sadie Martone

My art is inspired by growing up in Tinmouth, Vermont. I am surrounded by nature and enjoy spending a lot of my time in the woods. I think the woods are filled with magic from all the animals living there to the fairies that build their tiny homes in our woods. I love to watch flowers bloom, listen to the birds chirp, and see all of the different colors the forest around me has to offer. I believe the forest is a very magical place.