2020-2021

Topeka

Winners

Elementary School

Addisyn’s Artist Statement: “My drawling is about how a severe storm is made. During a severe storm you should find shelter so you're safe. A severe storm or a tornado is made from hot and cold air. In my drawling it shows red for hot air and blue for cold air mixing. Lots of rain and hail can happen during a severe storm. There are five types of tornadoes there is a F1, F2, F3, F4, and F5. The largest tornado is an F5 that does a lot of damage. Some tornadoes do barely anything like an F1. I drew a tornado to show how its created. I was inspired to draw a tornado because I live in tornado alley. How you know it's a tornado is because of funnel clouds and a green tint color in the clouds.”

Chloe’s Artist Statement: “My artwork is showing how a tornado begins. When warm and cold air meet it starts spinning in circles and circles until a big tornado forms. It just keeps spinning in circles and everything gets destroyed that is in its path. To show the warm and cold air on my artwork, on the left side I made a tree with icicles and a little swirl that is blue to represent the cold air. On the right side I made sunflowers, grass, a tree with leaves and a red swirl to represent the warm air. For a little bit of design I did some red splatters on the cold side to show that the warm air is getting to the cold air. I did the same thing but swapped on the right side so blue splatters on the warm side to represent the cold air getting to the warm air. The tornado in the middle is just showing that the warm air and cold air create tornadoes and not something else like a tsunami or hurricane. And that is my artist statement.”

Middle School

Max’s Artist Statement: “This artwork has very bold words and bright colors and different textures. I am very proud of my art because i feel like I got my message across very well. My message is to be very serious about preparing for a blizzard because it can strike at any time and very quickly. It is easy to be caught off guard so be sure to be warm and prepare. Families can have extra firewood on hand, extra gas for vehicles, and extra blankets and food. Firewood can keep people warm if the electricity goes out. Gather wood in the summer and keep dry matches in a plastic bag so they do not get wet. Extra gas helps if a person needs to drive to the doctor. Gas should be stored in a gas can that is tightly sealed in a safe place. Gas can also help if someone needs to plow snow with a vehicle. Be prepared with extra blankets, canned foods, and flashlights. All these things can be done before a storm actually arrives. Do these things to stay safe and be warm all winter long.”

Gaius’s Artist Statement: “The challenge question I had chosen at the start of the challenge was: How can you and your family stay cool in a heat wave and warm in a blizzard? At the end of this project I had done all of the given questions. In my work I had explained how to stay cool in a heat wave and warm in a blizzard by explaining ways and options to do this act. The other questions, such as how do severe storms form, and how can your community be safe in a flood; I had explained what the four main severe storms are and explained how my community can be prepared for floods. The way I had created my artwork was to give a vibrant and cool feeling to the piece, also to separate the questions into sections for better understanding. I’m going to be honest, the competition didn’t encourage me to work with art materials in a new way: it made me make it very understanding and compact. The things people will learn from my artwork is up to them and not for me to make the piece for, it’s all up to the person to pay attention to my artwork so that they will learn something new from it. What I had learned was that it’s not just for me to understand, it’s for the people who look at my artwork to understand better than me. What inspired me was that I got to do the artwork in a cool way.”

High School

Makayla’s Artist Statement: “I chose the challenge question "How does a severe storm form." I drew a severe storm and a drawing of how air movements cause it to form. I was trying to explain how the storm forms, so I drew the storm and a place that shows how it forms. I hope that people understand how a storm forms, I learned to understand better how a storm forms and how much severe storms affect people.”

Ashley’s Artist Statement: “This poster addresses how to keep cool and safe in a heat wave by showing what to do in use in that situation. Through this artwork I am trying to show a simplified way to keep yourself out of harm's way during a heat wave. I made it short and sweet so that people that see it will read and retain the information on the poster. Before researching this topic I had no clue what to do in a heat wave, so I learned in the process of creating something to help other people learn. I was inspired to create my poster the way I did because heat waves are a real issue and educating people on this matter will someday save lives possibly.”

Topeka

Runner-Ups

Elementary School

Kooper’s Artist Statement: “I decided to divide it into 3 parts. The two outside boxes are the two different types of weather that come together and create a tornado. The Left side is really hot weather, I drew the sun with hot looking colors. The right side is windy weather with lots of clouds. It also has a little rain coming and is cooler weather. I used blues and yellows on the right side because they seem like cold colors. Then in the middle is the big tornado that was created and its really dark and scary.”

Gabby’s Artist Statement: “I drew a heatwave because it is hard so the heatwave can bounce off and keep me safe. Also it keeps me nice and warm. I am swimming in a pool because it is so hot outside. I used these colors because they match the picture and because their nice and bright.”

Madisen’s Artist Statement: “Hot air and cold air mixes and forms a tornado. My picture is how a tornado forms. I picked a tornado because it is easy to draw. I wanted people to learn how a tornado forms. Mrs. Elaine inspired me to do a tornado because I liked learning about tornadoes when she taught us about them.”

Myra’s Artist Statement: “My art shows how a tornado forms. The cold air mixes with the hot air and starts spinning. I also showed a house being destroyed because tornadoes are dangerous. The reason I drew a tornado is because they are cool. I liked painting my picture and using colored pencils. I joined Cool Science so I could paint weather and learn. I am happy to do this project.”

Middle School

Abbigail’s Artist Statement: “I drew a tornado with the hot and the cold air. mixing together and forming a tornado. I showed that the high winds of the air and the force of the tornado pushing trees in to houses and cars. The force of the tornado is pulling 5h3 3l3d54if poles like tug a war. I drew a tornado because they are dangerous. We were coming home from Walmart and the tornado siren went off and the tornado was close to us. It made me want to know more and I joined cool science.”

Olivia’s Artist Statement: “You can survive a heat wave by going in your home and shut all your curtains and not use any electricity but if you use electricity it will burn out. The art supplies helped me a lot to make the art that I have showed you. The art competition helped me, and encourage me to do the art. Thank you for the art supplies and time I am very grateful for entering this. It is an honor to do this competition.”

Trexton’s Artist Statement: “I addressed the challenge question by drawing things that show what keeps you cold. I think these are the things that keep you the coolest. I know that there are many things that can keep you cool. I just think these are the most popular. I am trying to say that these things are just the best of the many ways that you can keep cool in the summer. I created it the way I did because I felt like those were the best ways to keep cool. Also I think they are the most popular ways to keep cool. It did encourage me to draw in a new way. It encouraged me to use stencils. I think that using stencils is going to be a skill that I hope to use a ton in the future. I hope they will learn that there are many many different ways to keep cool in the summer. I learned that there are so many different ways to draw. I hope to learn how to use all of the different styles of art someday. Art has never really been my specialty. I hope to keep getting better at it. I was inspired by how I keep cool in the summer. Also these are the most popular things i use. These are also what I have laying around the room so that's what I first thought of. Also my dad wears a hat a lot and that is why I chose a hat for one of my pictures.”

High School

Katie’s Artist Statement: “I chose "How do severe storms form?" On my poster it is telling you how a severe storm is forming. At the top of the cloud there are ice crystals. There is a warm air rising and the cold air descends powerful downdrafts. At the bottom of the storm there is thunder and lightning. Overall this is how a severe storm forms.”

Abby’s Artist Statement: “This artwork demonstrates how a severe storm, such as a tornado, forms. I used a Wizard of Oz theme because Dorothy is transported by a tornado, and growing up in Kansas, The Wizard of Oz is close to my heart. This piece was created with digital art because it is more versatile in colors and designs. Using digital software, I was able to draw out a bright landscape on my computer, without needing to purchase any physical materials. When creating this piece, I learned more digital art techniques and more about how storms form when researching what exactly I should design. I hope people learn how tornadoes are made with hot and cool air, hopefully a reference from a popular movie will draw their attention.”