- March 16, 2026
Ormond Beach Elementary fifth grader Miranda White stands with her sister in front of her painting titled “Nature’s Calling." Photo by Sydney Tevin
Second place award winner: “Mike Wheeler” by Clover Demonica, fifth grader at Pine Trail Elementary. Photo by Sydney Tevin
Indian River Elementary second grader Landon Yearby stands next to her painting “The Crane in the Valley”. Photo by Sydney Tevin
Spruce Creek High School junior Leila Marty’s painting, titled “The Wolf, I Disguise Myself,” won second place. Photo by Sydney Tevin
The Dorothy Johnson Award winner: Chloe Sebastian’s sculpture titled “Chains”. Photo by Sydney Tevin
Cypress Creek Elementary fifth grader Angelina Escalon’s drawing titled “The Way of Life” won a first place award. Photo by Sydney Tevin
New Smyrna Beach High School sophomore Gianna Misiano’s sculpture titled “In the Garden." Photo by Sydney Tevin
Seabreeze High School junior Gianna Gillis’s sculpture titled “Chaotic Bouquet." Photo by Sydney Tevin
Orange City Elementary fourth grader Zurisadai Lopez stands next to her yarn art project titled “The Colors of Weaving." Photo by Sydney Tevin
Spirit Elementary fourth grader Dominique Rodriguez's mixed media art project titled “Spring” won a third place award. Photo by Sydney Tevin
The 54th annual Volusia Students Create exhibition is now on display at the Ormond Memorial Art Museum & Garden. The show will run through April 26.
The opening reception ran from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, and featured over 120 pieces of art from 50 Volusia County schools from grades kindergarten to 12th. The event also featured both 2D and 3D pieces on display.
All artwork was selected by teachers, who submitted pieces to the district. Board members then chose the top works to display and award. Ribbons were given for first, second and third place.
The Dorothy Johnson Award, the top honor for high school AP art students, was presented to Chloe Sebastian, a sophomore at Seabreeze High School. This award commemorates excellence in AP art and is the highest recognition at the event. Sebastian created a piece named “Chains”, a piece that was made to be perceived differently to many people based on challenges in their life. The chains were to express struggles that were connected to the vase. Sebastian sculpted her piece in Seabreeze teacher Christine Colby’s AP 3D art class.
“I made this piece to show how sometimes we let our chains hold us back,” Sebastian wrote in her artist statement.
