By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
As BGHS senior Etta Gallaway sat in Grounds for Thought this week with her artwork in front of her, passersby couldn’t help but comment.
“That’s great,” Roger Mozzarella said, questioning how Etta could be in high school and produce such amazing art.
“That’s beautiful,” Sandy Wicks said a few minutes later as she walked by.
Etta’s work has attracted attention beyond Bowling Green, with her submission to the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program taking first place at the state level.
Her acrylic painting of a redhead duck now goes to Washington, D.C., for the next round of judging against best of shows from other states.
“It’s exciting. I’m really nervous,” Etta said quietly. “I guess I’m representing Ohio.”
Etta has been an artist as long as she can remember. Always doodling as a child, and now preparing for a career in art as an adult.
“I’ve always been into art,” she said.
Bowling Green High School art teacher Lloyd Triggs said Etta excels at several different art forms – painting, graphic design and metal working.
“She can often be found in the art hallway, listening to headphones and working on an art project,” Triggs said.
“Painting is my favorite. I’m definitely the most passionate about it,” Etta said. “But I like everything we do.”
To paint the redhead duck, known in other circles as Aythya Americana, Etta was able to blend her love of art with her appreciation of nature.
“When I was little, I took nature classes at Wintergarden Park,” taught by Cinda Stutzman, Etta said.
Faced with a long list of ducks permitted in the duck stamp contest, Etta chose the redhead.
“I really like the contrast,” she said, pointing out the brilliant reddish head with the subdued body and background. “It’s nice to capture it in painting.”
Etta wasn’t sure if her duck stamp entry would go far, since she rushed a bit to finish.
“I was working on it the morning of,” she said with a smile.
This is the second time Etta has won at the state level in the duck stamp contest.
As a sophomore she won first place among Ohio students in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp program for her drawing of a Mallard duck.
The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program as an art and science-based curriculum that teaches wetland and waterfowl conservation to students in kindergarten through high school, Triggs said.
The first national competition was first held in 1993. The winning artwork serves as the design for the Federal Junior Duck Stamp and is sold for $5 with proceeds going to support recognition and environmental education activities for students who participate in the program.
“That would be amazing,” Etta said of the possibility of her art ending up on a stamp.
Etta’s art has earned her numerous awards throughout high school, Triggs said. Her work has been selected for the Focus show which is a highly competitive juried show for high schools in Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan. Etta has received three jurors awards for her work, the highest distinction within those shows.
Art is more than a hobby for Etta. She has been accepted to study at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, the Maryland Institute College of Art, and the School of Art Institute of Chicago.
She is leaning toward selecting Maryland, since she has family in nearby Washington, D.C.
Etta, the daughter of Liz Gallaway and the late Scott Gallaway, hopes to someday work at a museum or an art gallery, or possibly be an art professor.
She took a figure drawing class last summer at the Art Institute of Chicago.
“I was so scared. I felt like I wasn’t good enough to be there,” she said.
Her fears were realized when their initial work was critiqued.
“Mine was dead last. I was so embarrassed,” she said.
But by the end of the course, Etta’s work rose to the top of the class.
At BGHS, Etta also devotes her time to extra-curricular organizations like Stu Crew (a mixture of student council and Key Club), the Gay-Straight Alliance, the First Amendment Club, the National Honor Society, and previously with Model UN.
