Pittsfield Celebrates Jazz Art Contest Winners
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — For the month of April, Pittsfield High School students' jazz-inspired works bring color and design to the corridors of City Hall.
Kayleigh Capitanio secured the first-place award for the Berkshires Jazz Student Art Contest with a vibrant work depicting a guitar, piano, and music notes. The piece was created in art teacher Lisa Ostellino's classroom while listening to the music that inspired it.
"I didn't think that idea was going to be good until I started drawing," Capitanio explained. "And then I think what really helped was that we were listening to jazz music and it just got me in the groove, I guess."
Each year, Berkshire Jazz Inc. sponsors the student art contest to engage the community. The winning entry becomes the graphic for the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, which kicks off on April 24 and runs for 11 days.
"These are all over Berkshire County now, so you're famous, at least locally, soon internationally," Berkshires Jazz President Edward Bride said to the winner, noting that Pittsfield Community Television was recording the award.
Sara Sofia Plazas Cortez came in second with a black-and-white drawing of musical instruments and musicians, and Maso Casucci was voted third place for his warm-toned work, which included a curved piano and fretboard.
"I really like the colors," Casucci explained, adding that a drawing of a person singing was painted over in the bottom right corner, making that portion abstract.
"Every single one usually has a piano. I wanted to include guitar because I play guitar, so I thought that was a cool addition to it."
Mayor Peter Marchetti said it is "fantastic" to see when he comes out of his office.
"I've spent quite a bit of time, I think this year, in both art classrooms as I was making some rounds in PHS, and it's quite an energized group of folks," he said.
"So I'm happy to be able to present the awards to the winners."
The artwork will be displayed in City Hall for the duration of National Jazz Appreciation Month, an initiative of the Smithsonian Institution that was sanctioned by Congress in 2001. The Student Art Contest was created by Berkshires Jazz board member Art Niedeck nearly two decades ago.
PHS has participated for 16 years, overseen by art teachers Colleen Quinn with support from colleagues Ostellino, Michael Greenberg, and Alisa Mierzejewski. Small cash prizes are awarded to the top three works.
"I like what they do in class to be relevant to the community," Ostellino said.
"Jazz is alive in Pittsfield. I keep stressing that, and this is also where I like to try to explain some career options for them, so graphic arts, things that they're doing in class are very relevant to what happens outside in the world."
This year, the contest was judged by Karen Carmean, Erin Murphy, and Carolyn Newberger. Murphy, a graphic designer, said the winning drawing was bright and dynamic and works well as a poster.
The 19th annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival kicks off with an open jam session on Thursday, April 24, and the 11-day fest includes free and ticketed events, including the "jazz crawl," jazz brunches, the jazz prodigy concert, and headline concerts featuring Dawning Holmes and the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra.
Bridge pointed out that Berkshires Jazz All Star Youth Ensemble will open for the orchestra at the Colonial Theatre on May 3
"It's a tradition that's long-standing and we all look forward to that part of it," he said. "It's another way of integrating the youth into the jazz scene."
Tags: art contest, jazz, PHS,
