Native North American Travelling College Hosts 3rd Annual Art Wars

The Native North American Travelling College hosted their 3rd Annual Art Wars at the St. Regis Mohawk School, on Saturday February 17th. The event began at 3 pm with contestants registering and preparing for the preliminary rounds of the contest. A total of 16 contestants competed in the Art Wars. Artists were split in half, 8 competing in each preliminary round. A theme was selected at random for each of the three rounds; the first preliminary round category was legends and stories. Once the theme was selected for the first round, artists had 30 minutes for create an art piece of the chosen theme. When the first preliminary was completed spectators were able to vote for their favorite art piece. The ballots were then tallied with the top three contestants going on to the final round. After a brief break, the second preliminary round began, with the theme being good medicine. The second group of artists also had 30 minutes to create an art piece of their chosen theme. The top three artists from the second preliminary round went on to the final round, making a total of 6 contestants competing in the final round.

A silent auction was also set up for the finished art pieces to be auctioned off, with half of the proceeds going to the artists and the other half going to the Native North American Travelling College to help with next years Art Wars.

The first round art pieces were auctioned off up until the second preliminary round finished. Once the art pieces were sold, the second preliminary round art pieces went up for auction. Once the second round finished, a special Children's round took place. All the children were able to bring their art pieces home. The top three contestants in the children's round each won a prize.

The final round began, with the theme being mother earth. The top 6 contestants had 30 minutes to create their best artwork. Spectators watched eagerly as the artist came up some really creative artwork. Although the theme was mother earth, each art piece was unique and beautiful in their own way. Once the final round was finished the art pieces went up for auction, but in a different way. The final round art pieces are up for auction on the Native North American Travelling College's Facebook Page, until February 23rd at 4 pm.

Spectators voted for the favorite art pieces, and once the votes were tallied up, the top three artist were announced. The 3rd place winner was Yvette White, who took home $50 along with her half of the proceeds from her artwork that was auctioned off. The 2nd place winner was Tammy King, who took home $75 along with the proceeds from her art work that was auctioned off. 1st place went to Bruce Boots, who took home $100 along with his proceeds from his artwork that was auctioned off.