'White House Art Contest' Grand Prize Winner Korean-American High School Girl: "I Represented All Ethnicities That Built America"

17-year-old Gong Seoyoung from Dallas wins award at U.S. White House Historical Association National Art Competition

"I'm sad I couldn't see President Biden due to COVID, but I'll keep painting happiness"

Gong Seoyoung.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] A Korean-American high school student has attracted attention by winning the top prize among participating American students at an art competition held by the White House Historical Association in the United States.

At the "National Student Art Competition" organized by the White House Historical Association (WHHA) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of its founding, a Korean-American female student from Dallas won the prestigious grand prize.

The award ceremony on July 28 was held virtually due to COVID-19. The ceremony, which was planned to be held at the White House with an invitation from U.S. President Biden, was canceled and instead conducted as a virtual YouTube award presentation.

The association is an academic organization under the White House, established in 1960 the year after President Kennedy's election, led by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, to document the history of the White House.

The award-winning work of Gong Seoyoung, "Holding up the United States."

More than 500 works were submitted to this competition, which targeted students from kindergarten through 12th grade across the United States.

The competition was held on themes symbolizing the United States, such as the White House, American history, and presidents. The submissions were evaluated by grade stages: kindergarten to 3rd grade, 4th to 8th grade, and 9th to 12th grade.

Stuart MacLaren, president of WHHA, expressed through YouTube, "I sincerely thank the students, teachers, and parents who re-examined the history of the White House with excellent works prepared for this event commemorating the 60th anniversary of WHHA's founding," and congratulated all the award-winning students.

The student who won first place in the 9th to 12th grade category is Gong Seo-young (17), an 11th grader at Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas.

Gong Seo-young said, "I was really happy but also very surprised when I heard the news of winning. I never thought I would receive an award, but this award gave me confidence and belief in myself."

She also expressed gratitude to her parents for immigrating to the U.S. and allowing her to experience American history, and to her teacher who guided her in painting. Although she was disappointed not to receive the grand prize directly from President Biden as originally planned, she said she will continue to enjoy the happiness of painting.

Regarding her award-winning work titled "Holding up the United States," Gong explained, "I wanted to depict the White House building monumentally across the entire painting."

She interpreted, "The hands in the painting represent all races who have built and raised America so far, and the hands inside and outside the ship symbolize the people who lived in America before Columbus's Santa Maria sailed to the New World and those who influenced American history after the voyage."

Kate Lee, director of Kate Lee Art Studio who mentored Gong Seo-young, said, "Since this is such a large competition across the United States, I did not expect much, but I am happy that my student won a big award," adding, "Thank you for doing well. I hope she learns steadily, enjoys art, and lives happily."

Gong's father, Gong Young-joo, expressed his joy, saying, "During the difficult times of COVID-19, I was delighted to hear about my daughter's award from Korea."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.