Montana’s 2009 Congressional Art Competition: Whitefish Grad Wins State Congressional Art Contest

Caitlin Sterchi, from Whitefish High School, has been selected as the grand prize winner of Montana’s Congressional Art Competition for 2009. Sterchi and her parents, Simon and Amy Sterchi, will join Congressman Denny Rehberg in a Capitol Hill ceremony where her artwork will be unveiled and displayed for one year in the Cannon Tunnel along with the artwork of winners from other congressional districts. The Cannon Tunnel is a pedestrian walkway, leading to the United States Capitol building. It is frequented by Members of Congress, staff, and the general public.

Sterchi recently graduated from Whitefish High School. Her painting title "Family Outing" is an artistic representation of a Canadian gose and her goslings. It was selected from among the entries submitted from all across state in the Congressional Art Competition, a U.S. House of Representatives contest which has been held annually since 1982. Sterchi's piece was also the top choice in public voting via the social networking Web site Facebook. It was the first time Rehberg had posted all the entries online for public review and voting to help select the finalists.

As the grand prize winner, Sterchi received airfare for her and a guest to attend the artwork’s unveiling ceremony in Washington D.C. She’ll also receive a $1,000 art scholarship offer from the University of Montana.

Runner-up artists were Thom Bridge, a senior at C.M. Russell High School in Great Falls, and Kinzi Anderson, a senior at Belt High School.