By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Sarah Mathey’s Bowling Green roots go deep.
Her grandfather was a beloved choral conductor at Bowling Green State University. Her father grew up on South Grove Street.
Sarah, and her older sister, Hannah, were born in Switzerland, while their father, Shawn Mathey, pursued careers in opera. Their mother, Sujin Lee, is also a professional musician. The family relocated to Bowling Green when the girls were preschoolers to be closer to grandparents, Richard and Ethel Mathey.
Now a high school senior, Sarah was pleased when she read the prompt for the Fifth District 2026 Congressional Art Competition. It called for the artist to reflect on Bowling Green from a personal perspective.
“I was really able to tell a story, a personal story,” she said in a recent telephone interview. ”I’ve lived in Bowling Green practically my entire life, and by making this piece, I was able to combine those different elements of Bowling Green that really stood out to me. I was able to communicate my artistic vision through the different mediums and through the different aspects of my piece.”
“Hometown,” the artwork inspired by the prompt, was awarded the top prize in Ohio’s Fifth District 2026 Congressional Art Competition earlier this month. As the winning work, selected from 57 entries from throughout the Fifth District, “Hometown” will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol Tunnel for one year.
In announcing the award, U.S. Rep. Bob Latta stated: “As we celebrate America’s Semiquincentennial, it is important to reflect on where we come from and the meaning our hometowns hold for us, and Sarah captured that message beautifully through her work.”
Fabricated using metal, wood, and Plexiglass, Mathey depicted distinctive elements of the city. Set on a background of a March, 1910 edition of the Daily Sentinel-Tribune, she placed icons representing four features of the city — the National Tractor Pull, the Black Swamp Arts Festival, Jerome Library, and the county courthouse clock. Each design is shaped to form one of the letters in BGOH.
An exhaust pipe and tractor tires form the “B.” Mathey included the tractor pull because the event brings national recognition to the city. “Also I live about three minutes away from where it happens. So I’ve definitely heard my fair share of those loud noises.”
The arts festival’s signature salamander twists to form the “G.” The festival, she said, symbolizes the importance of the arts and. The event also brings attention to the “charm” of Bowling Green’s downtown.
The clock in the Wood County Courthouse forms the “O.” This is a “historical landmark” that represents the legacy that made the city what it is, Mathey said.
An image of the Jerome Library with its distinctive mural and a falcon in flight form the “H.” Bowling Green, she said, is a college town, and the campus “helps bring us together.”
Her family has links to BGSU. Her grandfather taught there for 32 years. Her father has two BGSU degrees: one in business and a graduate degree in music. Her mother teaches voice in the College of Musical Arts.
Sarah’s involvement in the arts included first studying violin and then flute through middle school. “When I got to high school there were lots of different factors to consider,” she said. She plays tennis in the fall, so she decided to forego band, though, she still has her flute and violin.
Mathey wanted a creative outlet. In her first year she signed up for art. She knew right away that she wanted to continue through the school’s four-year program. Sometimes, she said, it’s hard to imagine how an idea will come to fruition. That was true with “Hometown.”
“Having that creative vision and being able to actually put it into action is something that is really special to me,” Sarah said. “The most important part about art is the way that we are able to express ourselves creatively, and that aspect of art is something that can be incorporated into daily life and in any field you go into.”
Sarah will follow her sister to The Ohio State University, where she will major in accounting. She’s looking forward in living in a larger college town and expanding her horizons.
Her decision to pursue accounting grows from her love of math.
She added: “I would say I’m a very detail oriented person, and I know in the accounting field … that’s a good trait to have.” Studying art fostered that attention to detail.
Mathey won’t leave it behind. “I’d love to keep going with art as a hobby. It’s just such a rewarding thing to do.”
