April 4, 2025
Gibbs High School student Henry Peter won the Congressional Choice Award at the 14th Congressional District High School Art Exhibition. On Friday, April 4, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor visited Henry at Gibbs High School to celebrate his accomplishment with his school community.
Four PCS students also won awards in the competition. Fifteen works by PCS students are on display at the Tampa Museum of Art through April 13.
The annual exhibit features exemplary work created by high school students throughout Tampa Bay’s 14th Congressional District. This is the third year in a row that a PCS student has earned the top award in this show.
Congratulations to our district winners:
- The Congressional Choice Award (“Best of Show”) went to Henry Peter, an 11th grader at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School. His artwork, titled "Hurricane Daze," will travel to Washington D.C., to be displayed in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol building for one year!
- Museum Choice Award: Verity Skelton, a 12th grader at PCCA at Gibbs High
- Ann Skyar Scholarship Award: Alana Smith, a 12th grader at St. Petersburg High
- Honorable Mention: Josaphine Ramirez, an 11th grader at PCCA at Gibbs High
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor presented the awards during the reception at the Tampa Museum of Art on March 30. This year, 105 students from 24 schools were submitted for the competition. Fifty-one were accepted for the show, including 15 by PCS students at Gibbs, St. Petersburg and Lakewood high schools. The exhibit will be on display at the Tampa Museum of Art through April 13.
Peter's winning digital art was accompanied by this statement:
“My parents moved to Florida 26 years ago from Minnesota to build a new life for their family. When you move from the Midwest to Florida, you learn how to prepare for Hurricanes – sheltering during the storm and picking up the pieces after. We have always prepared for a storm that would rival them all, and that storm was Hurricane Milton. When the storm passed, we found our home beaten and flooded. Trees toppled, bamboo splinters impaling our house and almost everything we owned was soaked. This photo was at our lowest point, a point we never thought was possible. This photo is a reminder that no matter how prepared you are, how cautious you might be, life can strike you with a thunderous punch any moment,”
