Senior Gina Beneduci placed second in the Congressional Art Competition with her pastel drawing of Blink-182’s drummer, Travis Barker.

The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982 in order to offer an opportunity for members of Congress to view and judge the artistic talents of young participating artists from grades nine through twelve.

Since the competition began, more than 650,000 high school students have been involved in the competition. The first-place winning artwork will hang in a corridor in the United States Capitol Building for one year along with art from similar art contests held in congressional districts across the country. The winners will see their art on display during a special ceremony, which will be held on Saturday, May 13 at Merck’s Kenilworth facility.

Gina was rather excited with her work being displayed at the George Segal Art Gallery at Montclair University along with other student artists from surrounding high schools at a reception on April 28 where the winners of the contest were announced. With this gathering of numerous talented and aspiring artists, Gina came home with second place, so her work will be displayed in Congressman Bill Pascrell’s district office located in Paterson for one year.

“If I had to add up the number of hours that I put into this, I would say about fifteen hours in total,” said Gina.

Even with her busy schedule of juggling school and her job at Starbucks, the Becton senior managed to work and perfect her masterpiece during art class and during her time after work. She remarks, “It was exhausting, but it was definitely worth it.”

Gina will be attending Parsons School of Design this coming fall where she plans to study illustration and possibly animation.

“She is a phenomenal artist, and I truly believe she inspires others in the class with her work,” said Art Teacher Mrs. Savincki . “Gina even told me that she started doing portraits when she was younger, which doesn’t surprise me. Her work deserved the recognition she had gotten,” she added.