West Orange High School senior and AP Art student Proggya Paromita has been awarded a Silver Key in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards competition.

Over 100 arts and literary organizations partner with Scholastic annually to select top works of art and literature from students spanning grades 7-12 in 29 categories. Panelists look for works that best exemplify originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Last year, Scholastic received over 350,000 entries for review.

"Proggya is a senior in my Ap Art and Art 4 class this year," said WOHS AP Art teacher Heather Young.

"She created this piece modeled after a selfie of herself to show how society and social media expect women to portray themselves, hence the words in her background," she continued.

"Of course, Proggya is quite the opposite as the picture, which is why it is so suprising. She would never truly show herself in this way because she is a very smart confident girl that has no need to fall into this stereotype," explained Young.

Paromita's work was done with charcoal and mixed media (newspaper-like words collaged) and was part of a class assignment in Young's class to draw yourself in a foreshortened pose. Paromita chose to draw her piece from an extended-arm aerial view.

Students receiving Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions, or American Voices & Visions Nominations are celebrated within their communities through local exhibitions and ceremonies. 

Paromita's work, along with other top artists, will be on view at the Montclair Art Museum during the Scholastic Arts reception on Feb 28 from 6-9 p.m.

Proggya Paromita with her winning work of art.