THROUGH THE EYES OF CHILDREN: Art contest reveals youthful ideals of `home'

By HOLLY IVY DE VORE

REAL ESTATE WRITER

Hundreds of first- through fifth-graders let their imaginations run wild in the fifth annual Nevada Housing Division School Arts Competition.

The submissions, which tackled the contest's "Where I Live" theme, featured renditions of houses and apartments in all shapes, colors and settings. Some featured swimming pools, tile roofs and palm trees, while others showcased cars, horses, rainbows and kids on bikes.

The budding artists also drew places where they would like to live, such as a colorful spaceship, a castle with turrets and a moat, a treehouse perched amid fluffy clouds, a haunted house with ghosts and goblins, and a dinosaur-shaped home using its long tail as a slide.

Taking top honors out of more than 500 entries from 15 schools was Red Rock Elementary School first-grader Summer Byers.

Byers created the home where she would like to live with a green, purple, brown and orange exterior, and accented it by gluing colorful construction paper cut into squares, rectangles and a heart. Tall palm trees were planted nearby.

"I spent two days working on it," Byers said. "My teacher, Mrs. (Nita) Anderson, showed us how to use `Mozart (mosaic) style' with the construction paper ... I also used a ruler to make straight lines."

Byers, who also enjoys painting, said artistic talent runs in her family, and that her 9-year-old brother is also good at art.

A smile swept across Byers' face when asked about how she plans to spend the first-place award of a $150 savings bond provided by Pardee Homes, one of the contest's community partners.

"I am going to buy presents for my family and my teacher," she said. "But it's a surprise."

Jared Rhizor, a third grader from Tobler Elementary School, earned second place, and Ashley Henderson, a fifth-grade pupil at Ronzone Elementary School, captured third. They will receive $100 and $50 savings bonds, respectively, from Pardee.

The Housing Division will distribute a 2001 calendar featuring 13 of the contest's top entries during an artists' reception, sponsored by Pardee, from 4 to 6 p.m. on Jan. 9 in the Sawyer Building at Washington Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard, where about 80 pieces will be exhibited from Jan. 8-31.

The Judges' Choice Award-winning entry by Goldfarb Elementary School fourth-grader Chelsea Steed will be featured on the calendar's cover. Her three-story home features blue curtains, a tile roof, white-picket fence and a girl on a patio.

In addition to the first- through third-place winners, other works featured in the calendar are by fifth-grader Jared Harvey, third-grader Jarrett Quiacusan, second-grader Fatima Casden and third-grader Bizmi Castaneda, all pupils at Goldfarb Elementary School; fifth-grader Roxanne Hidalgo, fourth-grader Scott Yacek and fifth-grader Ashley Burtram, all of Tobler Elementary School; fifth-grader Samantha Hames of Elizabeth Wilhelm Elementary School; and fourth-grader Emmy Hawthorne of Ronzone Elementary School.

The art exhibit will later travel to The Venetian, where it will be showcased from March 1-15 in The Grand Canal Shoppes. An artists' reception is slated on March 1.

From April 2-6, the artwork will be featured in the Legislative Building in Carson City.

"I think the contest is a very good experience for children and a great opportunity for the community to see how the community is viewed through the eyes of its children," said Andy Abboud, director of government relations at The Venetian, a community partner of this year's contest.

"It is a good opportunity to showcase children's talents and their viewpoints."

Ray Landry, an executive at Pardee, agreed.

"We are very proud to be a sponsor of this contest," Landry said. "Programs like this teach our youth to be responsive to the environment and the community they live in."

The Housing Division will also incorporate pieces by Victoria Chong, a third-grader at Goldfarb Elementary, and ShaDrena Simon, a fifth-grader at Ronzone Elementary School, in printed material.

"The project is a community partnership program (that) gives the division an opportunity to work with community leaders, while providing a heightened awareness of housing, homeownership and our community for our children," Charles Horsey, Housing Division administrator, said.

"These students show us through their eyes how they see and feel about where they live and their community. I think this is important as we all strive to provide housing and services to fill the needs of the population."

Other community partners were the Clark County School District School-Community Partnership Program and the Real Estate Section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Sun.

Contest judges were art instructors Vija Hamilton and Jan Butler; Leigh Ann Cook, coordinator of government relations at The Venetian; and Holly Ivy De Vore, real estate writer at the Review-Journal and Sun.S U N D A Y , D E C E M B E R 2 4 , 2 0 0 0

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