2020-2021

Merrimack Valley

Winners

Elementary School

Zoya’s Artist Statement: A thunderstorm is an example of extreme weather. I addressed my challenge question “How severe storms are formed?” by showing how a thunderstorm is formed. I’m showing how warm, moist air mixes with cool, dry air, forming unstable air. When the unstable air is disturbed, it starts to rise. As the unstable air gets higher, a cloud starts to form. It gets bigger and bigger, and soon, when the cloud is full of water, the rain starts coming down. Happy spring showers! Then, cool, dry air flows out of the cloud in a downdraft, and warm, moist air flows into the cloud in an updraft. This builds up an electric charge in the cloud, causing lightning and thunder. Thunder is caused when lightning strikes the ground, causing the air around it to warm up and expand rapidly. Through my artwork, I would like the people of Massachusetts to become aware of this wonderful phenomenon in nature. The art competition encouraged me to use my art materials in a new and unique way. I hope people will get a good understanding of how thunderstorms form. I learnt how a thunder and lightning is caused and I also realized the importance of it as it brings rain showers. The process of water cycle, that I learnt in my school, inspired me to do this artwork on thunderstorm.”

Annalise’s Artist Statement: “I answered my challenge question, How does severe weather form?, by making a diagram on how a tornado forms so we can watch out for signs of tornadoes. A tornado is a vertical column of air that rotates around a low pressure center, called a core. The air around the tornado wants to get into the low pressure zone, causing the vacuum of a tornado. A tornado can form when winds blow in different directions at different altitudes, typically 5,000 feet, called a Wind Shear. This creates a horizontal cylinder that rotates by the wind blowing it. The wind cylinder gets pushed up by warm air rising from below, which pushes it upwards until it splits, the two parts joining together to make a vertical cylinder. After a while, the cylinder grows into a huge rotating storm called supercell. Supercells are gigantic storms, they usually produce large amounts of hail, extreme rainfall, and lightning, although the lightning generally stays in the clouds. There is around a 30 percent chance that a supercell will produce a tornado. When a supercell's bottom touches the ground, the bit that touched the ground turns into a tornado. I added flying debris, and broken cars and houses to show how destructive a severe tornado can be, because I think people should know how dangerous a tornado can be, and how to watch out for them. As long as we stay educated and prepared, we can lessen the injuries each year caused by severe storms.”

Middle School

Anushka’s Artist Statement: “I chose to answer challenge question #3, How can your community prepare for extreme flooding?, by drawing people getting ready for a storm surge, and working together to keep everyone safe. Preparing for extreme flooding is really important to make sure you and your community don't get hurt. There are many ways to avoid/get rid of water including, drains, levees, and moving to higher grounds. You only need about a foot of moving water to move your car, so you should move your car and valuables to higher grounds so that they are not damaged. Levees are walls that block the water from coming in so having them in front of your community is essential to keeping water out of your community. If water does come into your community, drains will be helpful to get rid of some of the water. There are also many other ways to keep you safe, like cleaning out gutters and building your house on stilts. I hope people will learn a few ways to keep themselves, and their community safe, by preparing themselves to make sure no one gets hurt. Preparing for extreme flooding is very important to insure no one is hurt and no buildings are severely damaged. The more we prepare for flooding, the number of people who pass away from extreme flooding will be decreased.”

Sherry’s Artist Statement: “I chose to answer the question, How can your community prepare for extreme flooding? By making this art showing the community how a flood starts so they can look out for the signs of one and be cautious and evacuate before it starts. Flooding can start in many ways. For example, flooding can be caused by too much rainfall in a short amount of time. More ways could be storm surges, when there is a storm and the level of seawater rises rapidly and crashes ashore. If you leave near a dam or barrier, you should acknowledge that if the barrier breaks, it could cause a large amount of water to flow in. Lastly, there are glaciers, snow and ice. I didn’t add this into my art because in this scenario there probably wouldn’t be snow where there are beaver dams and palm trees. When too much snow or ice melts, there is a possibility it could flood the area. I hope that people will learn about what causes a flood. There many ways a flood can start and if you realize that you are living near the coast and the waves are larger and more aggressive than normal you might need to realize that a flood could happen soon if those waves continue to grow and come ashore. Once people understand why a flood starts, we can be more aware of our surroundings and predict when a flood will happen and evacuate before these extreme floods happen.”

High School

Heiel’s Artist Statement: “What can me and my family do to keep cool in a heat wave or keep warm in a blizzard? There are quite a lot of answers to this question. They can also vary depending on your living situation. But my answer was Drinks. Most people whenever they are hot go for a nice cold bottle of water and if they’re cold, they go for a coffee or hot cocoa. Though you can get the same effects from a hot meal or cold ice cream, I think a majority of people would go for something that just flows through their body like a liquid drink. I made the art look like the two hands and arms were clinking drinks despite being in two separate backgrounds. This was mainly done because I kind of miss being able to hang out with people in 2020 due to certain problems but can also show contrasts not only on what we drink in certain situations but how we drink it. You would drink something hot in a solid container so you aren’t burning yourself and on the opposite end of the spectrum you want to feel the cold of the water through the plastic bottle. The whole idea kind of came to me because I have been drinking so much water recently my room kind of has a mess of water bottles. I drew all these ideas of how I change my body temperature and how I feel but drinking something hot and cold gives direct heat or chill to you instantly. There isn’t terribly much behind it, it’s just a straight and simple answer that people can hopefully relate to.”

Desmond’s Artist Statement: “For my poster I chose the question “How Does A Severe Storm Form?” I addressed the question by simply looking it up and finding out information. I found out how these storms form and decided to apply it to the poster I created along with a diagram I drew up as well. In my work I'm just trying to provide information on how these things work. I created the artwork the way I did because I decided to keep it simple and just use a diagram and information on the side, but on the left side I decided to try something different and boat the question as some type of storm with the “HOW” being the clouds, the “STORMS” being lighting and the “FORM” being the rain. The background was just a simple storm with land going on in the background. I tried to combine simple with complex and I’d like to think I did a good job. The competition made me think of a way I could be unique with the way I presented it, I didn't use new materials just the simple things in illustrator but I tried some new ideas. People could learn a lot from this and hope people will learn how storms form, not like it's important to most people but I view it as fascinating and how people view it as fascinating if they don't view it as important because let's be honest who cares about how the storm forms people just want to stay safe in that type of weather and I would as well. Alot of thought and fun came out of this project and I hope its viewed as enjoyable.”

Merrimack Valley

Runner-Ups

Elementary School

Ailyn’s Artist Statement: “In a heat wave I like to have ice cold lemonade and go in the pool. I hope others looking at my picture will also find ways to keep cool in a heat wave.”

Dhiren’s Artist Statement: “The name for my artwork is called… ‘The shield.’ My artwork is about how to control the flow of water and to avoid floods. We need to be smart about how we use dams and levees. Also embankments, meandering rivers help slow down the flood. We are trying to get our community prepared for extreme floods. It starts in the mountain, through the towns, and to the city. I wanted to show the journey of the River and so I can show the defense in the towns it past and how we protect them in the community. The art materials I used are sharpie and oil pastels I think what people will learn from the artwork is that floods can be more dangerous than you think and we should be careful and cautious about floods. I learned about meandering, embankments and more about floods. What inspired me to do this question is that my grandma's hometown was getting a lot of floods and I wanted to help her period so I drew a drawing so that she could get less floods! I think that if someone starts a community, they should have these measures. If they do not they might end up having to spend a lot of money for the damage every flood does. But if they do, this can be a huge help to them. Maybe even send ideas to your mayor to protect your community from flooding.”

Cora’s Artist Statement: “To stay warm during a Blizzard, you should get warm clothes and warm pajamas. You might want to get a couple of blankets. You should drink hot coffee and hot chocolate. If you go outside then you should put on a warm coat and snow pants. Also you should put on a hat, scarf, and mittens. What I want people to learn from my artwork is that you should always dress appropriately for the weather. And that you should dress warm during a Blizzard and cold weather. I created my work the way I did because I want people to know that if you go outside during a Blizzard, then you should wear a hat, mittens, and scarf. and if you are inside then you should wear a sweater. It also helps to eat and drink warm foods and drinks. The competition inspired me to put bright colors into my work, so you can see it from 5 feet away as it says in the guidelines. From making the book in the poster, I learned a lot. I learned how a thunderstorm forms and how to prepare for a hurricane, a Blizzard, and a tornado. My experience was amazing doing the poster in the book. I am very glad I did it and I hope you enjoy my work!”

Soriya’s Artist Statement: “I chose the question “How do severe storms form?” I chose this question because I am interested in storms! My picture is about how tornadoes form. What inspired me is my little brother because he is also interested in tornadoes and always asks about them. A detail that you can't see in the picture is that a thunderstorm and a tornado forms at the same place and time!”

Annabelle’s Artist Statement: “The reason I created this piece is because I want people to know you can cool down by going to the beach, and you should ride your bike to get there. You should ride your bike to decrease your carbon footprint and reduce greenhouse gases. Climate change makes summers hotter and winters harsher. During the heat of summer, you can cool off and go to the ocean. When you ride your bike, it’s a win-win for you and the planet. If you suffer from that scorching heat, don’t make it worse by driving your car! Your car will just make the world hotter! Something I hope people learn from my artwork is that you have to make a change. Everyone’s little part counts. If everyone rode their bike to the store, park, or library instead of driving, the world’s greenhouse gases would be reduced by a lot. Do your part to stop climate change and don’t sit back and think I’ll let other people do it, because those other people include you when others say it.”

Middle School

Benjamin’s Artist Statement: “I chose to address the challenge question that I chose, How can your community prepare for extreme flooding?, by showing simple yet effective ways that people can protect themselves from flooding. My choice of words “Flood Preparations” refers to ways that people can protect themselves from extreme flooding. I chose to use those two words because those certain actions will help people prepare and be safe from flooding. I included a seawall to represent protection from storm surge, which accounts for a lot of flooding. Recurve seawalls are even more effective, so I decided to draw one as well. I also included houses near rivers and oceans being above stilts or garages, which protects houses from the damage caused by extreme flooding. I thought that those examples could serve by creating ideas for future innovations to protect against severe flooding. Because if we can create and use things like these, flood damage will be reduced, and many lives will be saved!”

Leo’s Artist Statement: “This is my artist’s statement about my piece of artwork which answers the question, How to stay cool in a heat wave. I addressed the question provided by this challenge through its title How to stay cool. In my work, I am trying to tell people how to stay cool in a heat wave, which is important because heatstroke is very dangerous. I created my artwork this way because I thought it would convey information to people looking at it and be clear to them and I tried not to make it confusing, using words as a solution. I was mostly not encouraged to use materials in new ways by the art competition, but I did use colored pencils slightly differently by using the side of the tip to color some of the sky. During this project, I learned five different ways to stay cool which are: Drink lots of water, cover the windows, eat fruit, sleep downstairs, and wear white clothes. I was inspired by this competition to use different sizes of paper; the ones we used in the contest were 24x9. It makes different effects depending on the size which is a very useful trick. I hope people will look at my artwork and know how to stay cool in hot weather, which is becoming a larger issue as the climate rises. This concludes my artist statement. I hope you understood more about my experience in this project and the artwork itself.”

Sabina’s Artist Statement: “I know that the process of the formation of a storm is from the heat from the sun being absorbed by the ground and then if the day gets cold, the heat is released from the ground and the heat from below and the cold from above meet, creating energy which makes a round storm cloud. But I simplified the process in my artwork because I wanted to make it bold, not very complicated, and easy to read from a distance. In my artwork, I am trying to say that heat from the ground and cold from the air come together to create a severe storm. I used bright blue for the cold and orange-yellow for the heat because orange and blue are complementary colors. The reason I wrote the words (when heat and cold meet) was because heat and meet rhyme. To make the poster, I used acrylic paint which I applied to the poster with a sponge and paint roller which is something I have not done before. The inspiration for the colors (blue and orange) was a sunrise or a sunset, the inspiration for the way I did the text was from a book cover and part of the inspiration for the storm cloud and the rain was the rainy day that I made the poster on. I hope that people who see the poster will learn about how a severe storm forms because that is what I have learned while making my poster.”

Ocean’s Artist Statement: “The challenge question that I chose to answer for my project was: How can you stay cool during a heat wave? I chose that topic because it’s something that can affect people here in Massachusetts, and it’s important for people to know how to stay safe. In my poster, I answered this question by drawing different ways families can stay cool, and avoid overheating. They can wear loose, light colored clothes and a broad sun hat, and make sure to always apply sunblock. It’s important to stay hydrated by drinking lots of fluids, avoid leaving pets or children in the car, and try to avoid the outdoors or seek shade between 10:00AM and 4:00PM, when the sun is at its strongest. I feel like the Cool Science art competition made me pay more attention to advertising outside the home and figure out how to use my materials to fit well on such a specifically sized poster. It also made me want to learn more about weather patterns and extremes and how they affect various communities. I hope that when people see my artwork it will inspire them to be more careful during heat waves and educate them about what to do. If people don’t know about heat stroke and cautions to take in order to avoid one, my goal is that after seeing this poster, they will learn about it.”

High School

Alyssa’s Artist Statement: “In my work I'm trying to explain how different ways storms can form or how it relates to them to storms. In my poster I show how to prepare for a Blizzard, it shows different materials a family would need in case of a Blizzard. It shows through pictures what you might need or should stock up on during a Blizzard. I hope people will learn through my artwork by seeing how storms are produced and how we can prepare for them. Things I learned from this project is how radiation works and how other storms work as well. Such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and Thunder storms. This project inspired me to know more about storms and how they can impact us in different ways we can learn how to get ready for a storm. This project didn't particularly inspire me to work with different materials. Though I learned some new things about the weather, I didn't think it changed the ways I use art materials. I addressed the challenge in my artwork by showing how different materials relate to how things related to storms are made. how different materials connect to things like condensation and convection. Like examples on how we conserve heat or how heat is released. It's explained through my art how condensation an convention is formed from different objects we use our day to day life.”

Artist Statement: “I chose the question, how do you stay cold in a heatwave or stay hot in a blizzard. The first idea that came to mind when thinking of this question was to incorporate both settings into one piece. With the contrast of a blizzard opposed to the sunny day creating a nice gradient from warm colors to cold colors. When making the project I figured that the best way I could present my idea would be in a simple art style without much details to make a more visually pleasing piece, that is doable. As this was my first major project in PS and this style was the one of the better options in making it look better with the skills I had. It was a fun experience and I learned a lot about Photoshop in the process, learning most of the basic tools and how to use gradients, masks and layer manipulation which is present in the project.”

Mikayla’s Artist Statement: “My inspirations for this contest were the representations of both a heat wave and a blizzard, and how people refer to them as. For heat, it is often represented as flames, and blizzards are represented as snowflakes. I took this into thought, and it took me quite a while to find something that can represent both. I thought of ways to incorporate both into my poster, and finally decided to put multiple images of each behind the design, at a lower opacity, instead of one large image in the center of both sides. I love to play around with color, and again I thought of colors that can represent heat and cold. My inspiration for both of those are Heat Miser and Snow Miser, from “The Year Without A Santa Claus” (1974) and lately it has been a trend for makeup artists to split their faces in half and have a brother on each side based on their makeup style. I thought it would be a cool, and unique take on the trend, and so I incorporated it into my poster. This movie has always been a classic, and for the heat wave side of my poster I included a range of warm tones, and for the blizzard side I included cool tones. The poster itself displays major ways to keep yourself safe in both a heat wave and a blizzard, and I thought it would be unique to add cartoon images of each object you can use to keep yourself safe, and aware of what you can do. All of the objects are also things that you can use to help others who need it, such as jackets, portable hand fans, old clothing you don’t wear, etc.”