The Black Excellence United (BEU) club is hosting its 3rd annual art contest. ‘Trailblazers and Trendsetters’- an exhibit of African American innovators who shaped history, was chosen as this year’s theme by BEU as well as the Student Equity Council. 

“One thing that I love about BEU,” says Leiani Benson, member of BEU, “is that it teaches us history that we wouldn’t really learn in a regular course.” 

BEU will be judging the contest, and after they have seen all of the submissions, each student will rank their top three pieces, then tally up the votes The pieces with the most votes will be the first, second and third place winners. The club will judge them on their technical excellence, composition, originality/creativity and concept/vision. 

“My favorite part about the art contest is seeing how everybody takes the theme, and their own perspective on it,” says Aniyah Nelson, BEU club president. 

Any form of art is welcomed and encouraged. From poets and musicians, to sculptures and painters, artists are wanted to create beautiful pieces of art to honor African-American trendsetters and trailblazers who have shaped history. 

Each artist must include a statement detailing why the artist selected the subject of their piece, what they contributed to society, and why the artist thinks that they should be celebrated. 

“Last year I was shocked, in a good way, about how [the artists] took the theme and their perspective on it, because all of the artwork was completely different from each other’s,” the club president explains.