Press Releases
Larsen Announces Winner of 2025 Congressional Art Competition
Mount Vernon, W.A.,
May 30, 2025
Today, Rep. Rick Larsen announced Tessa Meyer of Oak Harbor High School as the winner of the 2025 Congressional Art Competition in Washington state’s 2nd congressional district with her piece, “Swallow Your Attitude.”
“Swallow Your Attitude” will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year. Meyer has also been invited to attend the Congressional Art Competition awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. and received free airfare for her and an adult for the trip. “It takes courage to put yourself out there as a young person, and I’m grateful to all the artists who submitted their work to the Congressional Art Competition,” said Larsen. “Congratulations to Tessa Meyer for winning this year’s competition with her fantastic piece. I look forward to seeing “Swallow Your Attitude” in the Capitol.” This year’s second and third place winners are also students at Oak Harbor High School: Lillika Taitano with “An Orange-flavored Day” and Peyton Bodenhafer with “Obscure.”
Kit Christopherson is the art teacher at Oak Harbor High School, and congratulated his three students for winning 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in this year’s competition. "All participants’ works exhibited great technical excellence and I am thrilled our OHHS artists were recognized,” said Christopherson. “Lillika Taitano's "An Orange-Flavored Day" is a beautifully crafted look at first childhood experiences and Peyton Bodenhafer's "Obscure" is an excellent experiment in hidden form. The detailed winning piece "Swallow Your Attitude" by Tessa Meyer could be read as a social commentary where kids receive more loud opinions and information than people can handle and reminds me that parents and teachers have the opportunity to demonstrate stability instead of trying to compete with the noise." This year, Rep. Larsen’s office received 15 eligible artwork submissions from across the Second District. Rep. Larsen, Dr. Kate MacKenzie (Snohomish County Arts Commissioner), Therese Kingsbury (President of Sculpture Northwest), and Diane Martindale (former President of the San Juan Islands Museum of Art) served as judges in the competition. Each submission was scored on creativity, the execution of the artist’s skill, and the way the piece tells a story or provokes a reaction. The winner of the 2024 Congressional Art Competition in Washington state’s 2nd congressional district, “Reflection” by Riley Tomtan of Ferndale High School, has hung in the U.S. Capitol for the past year.
Each spring since 1982, the Congressional Institute has sponsored the Congressional Art Competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in each congressional district. Since the competition began, more than 650,000 high school students have participated. For more information about the annual Congressional Art Competition, click here. ### |
