For the past 24 years, The Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington has held a Long Island’s Best exhibition, featuring extraordinary works of art created by Long Island high school students. This year, for the first time, it took the event online and it became the largest Long Island’s Best ever with 388 students from 58 high schools submitting artwork for jurying. One hundred works were selected by Karli Wurzelbacher, Heckscher Museum Curator, and guest juror Nancy Richner. 

Record-breaking number of votes from virtual visitors around the world

The online exhibit features images of the artwork, artist statements, images of artwork from the museum’s exhibitions that inspired students, videos about select artwork, and more. Visitors had the opportunity to vote on their favorite artwork. The event was a success attracting more than 9,000 virtual voters from across the globe – a record-breaking number of votes. 

Virtual Visitors Choice Award winners: Micarlys Ramirez and Alana Moy

The voters named artwork from Micarlys Ramirez, Brentwood HS; and Alana Moy, Valley Stream Central HS  as their Virtual Visitors Choice Award winners. The winners were announced on May 21 on Instagram Live. 

According to the The Heckscher Museum of Art website, Alana Moy’s winning watercolor and ballpoint pen piece, Force Feeding, was inspired by works by Gabriela Gonzalez Dellosso and Mort Künstler. “The drawing presents a man feeding me alphabet soup that spells out the archetypes that have been used against women to limit them through time. I am distressed, angry, and ready to break free of the limitations placed upon me,” she said.

Micarlys Ramirez won for Ydelim in a Green Chair, an acrylic on canvas painting. She said she was immediately reminded of her younger sister when she saw Fairfield Porter’s Elizabeth in a Red Chair. “Elizabeth’s facial expression appears almost somber, her gaze expressionless as she sits on her chair. I was intrigued by the idea of exploring human emotion. To emphasize the mood of my painting, used darker tones to reflect the seriousness of my sister’s expression,” said Micarlys.

To view the winning artwork, the entire exhibition, the virtual reception and ceremony, top inspiration artwork and more, visit The Heckscher Museum of Art website.  

For 100 years, The Heckscher Museum of Art has been a source of creative inspiration and a cultural cornerstone of Long Island. Its mission is to connect people with the fine arts – a place where discovery, imagination, and ideas take flight. The Heckscher Museum of Art is located at 2 Prime Avenue in Huntington. For more information, contact the museum at 63-351-3250 or info@heckscher.org.