Kaitlin Crouch of East Rowan High School has been selected as the 10th annual recipient of Waterworks Visual Arts Center’s annual Dare to Imagine Award.
In recognition of the importance of art in the life of a community, the award is presented to the Rowan County high school senior whose artwork most exemplifies the creative potential of the human spirit, heart and hand.
Crouch’s portfolio was one of 13 submitted by art educators from high schools in the Rowan-Salisbury School System. Entries were judged on their originality, content, composition and design, technique, presentation and variety of media.
This award, made possible by a gift from Susan and Edward Norvell, includes a $1,000 scholarship and a solo exhibition of the selected student’s work at the Waterworks Visual Arts Center.
Crouch will be honored at the opening reception at Waterworks from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday. Her work is on exhibit from May 25 through Sept. 7.
She prefers working in pencil and paint, spending hours on little details which give her work a clean and crisp finish, according to a Waterworks press release.
“Art is my way of expressing feelings that are too strong for words. I strive to create artwork that gives the viewer a happy feeling and a positive attitude,” Crouch said in the press release.
Crouch is an art student of Stacey Rollins at East Rowan.
“Kaitlin has always been a leader in and out of the classroom,” Rollins said in the press release. “She has taken every assignment as a challenge to experiment with and broaden her skills and techniques as a young artist.”
This fall, Crouch will attend Western Carolina University to study graphic design and marketing.