 Harclerode was chosen by the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Art Committee during the last school year to attend the Cowboy Summer Art Camp (Western Art Academy).
The Western Art Academy is an intense three-week immersion of advanced art instruction designed specifically for talented high-school juniors and seniors. Organized under the direction of the Museum of Western Art, in Kerrville, Texas, it offers students the rare opportunity to receive one-on-one instruction in painting and sculpting from well-known and respected professional artists.
There she was taught sculpture and oil painting by well known area artists, including sculpting instructor Jeff Gottfried. McKenna was very successful with her summer art, according to her FHS art teacher, Jan Nemitz, and produced a sculpture, Battle Cry, that was sold for $4,700. It will be cast in metal and the purchasers are also going to give her a duplicate copy of her sculpture. This will be on display at some point at FHS.
Harclerode also sold the painting that she created in Kerrville. She sold the work for $450.
“McKenna was chosen from several thousand rodeo entries so it really was outstanding for her to get to go to this camp let alone do so well with her artwork,” Nemitz said. “She is very talented and I am very proud of her. I look forward to seeing what she accomplishes her senior year.”
The description above comes from The Western Art Academy's website.
Here is a link to that:
http://www.museumofwesternart.com/academy.asp
McKenna has never painted with oil or sculpted before attending the academy. It was an awesome experience for her and it had more of an impact on her life than just advancing her artistic abilities. She
was even asked to speak at the graduation ceremony.
She was one of 34 students selected for the program and one of 24 that attended the June session. At graduation the students displayed their artwork for sale to invited guests which included members of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, as well as family and friends. McKenna was one of three students who sold her sculpture. The sculpture, called "Battle Cry", was purchased by a Member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for $4700. It will take a year for the sculpture to be bronzed. The benefactor gets the first bronze copy and also provides McKenna with the second copy and the mold to make future copies, if she chooses. The sculpture took her 4 days to complete.
There were interested buyers from the HLSR for her painting of the cowboy on the horse, but not wanting to let her first oil painting go outside the family, she sold it to her aunt for $500. Artist set their own prices for their paintings and the Western Art Academy set the price for the sculpture because it was based on what it would cost,to bronze it.
McKenna began pastel painting at the age of 9 under the instruction of local artist Betsy Miller. In Junior High she won two Best of Show awards from the Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo and was also awarded a scholarship to the Glassell School of Art in Houston. This past year as a Junior she was a gold medal winner and a received the scholarship to the Western Art Academy. Her high school instructor is Jan Nemitz. |
