By Steve Oldfield
NKyTribune staff writer
A Holy Cross senior has won the prestigious Best in Show Award at Thomas More University’s annual high school art show for her work that graphically tells the story of her back surgery.
Madi Hagedorn endured a full-thoracic spinal fusion to correct Scoliosis, a painful and debilitating curvature of the spine.
“Art helps me to be able to express my feelings and what I’m going through without actually having to talk about it,” said Madi. “Sometimes, it’s hard to explain how you’re feeling and how much pain you’re in and art just really helps me express it without having to say something.”
Her winning work, “What Remains,” features three panels that show the surgical process and the incisions on her back. Noted Cincinnati artist and educator Pam Kravetz selected Madi’s work.
Her mother, Vanessa, took the photos that Madi used to create the piece.
“Our family has watched Madi put every emotion and challenge in her work and it shows – you can feel it in the pictures,” Hagedorn said.“To see other people appreciate them is really cool.”
Another artwork inspired by Madi’s health journey was selected for the show (along with several other pieces she created). “From Where I Lay: My World Within Reach” catalogs items on a coffee table near the couch where she spent six weeks lying on her back during recovery.
“I had to paint a still life for a summer art project but I couldn’t paint on a large canvas so I took a picture and projected the image, splitting it up into small panels that I painted on my back, holding them above my head,” she said.
Madi also received a new award presented by Thomas More’s Department of Creative Media. The Darryl Brothers Award honors the best figurative artwork in the exhibition. Brothers was a longtime Chair of the university’s Art Dept. His work focused on the human figure. Two of his paintings are displayed on campus in the Saints Center.
It’s not the first time Madi has won an award in the show, which has been featuring high school artists since 1994. Last year, Madi won the Director’s Choice Award, which comes with a scholarship to Thomas More. Since she was a junior, the school gave her the chance to enroll in college-level classes during her last year of high school.
“I love it here,” Madi said. “It’s amazing to get the chance to experience college before I get there. I get to work harder.”
Madi plans to major in art and hopes to work as an art fabricator. The show has given her the confidence to pursue her dreams.
“I’ve always wanted to be an artist and it’s really amazing to see that my art is getting recognized and it’s possible,” she said.
Madi also enjoys meeting other high school artists in the show, who come from across Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati and Southern Indiana. Kravetz selected three honorable mentions:
• Covington Catholic’s Drew Brogan,
• Seton’s Katelyn Adams and
• Simon Kenton’s MJ Williams.
TMU art professors also chose Oak Hills High School’s Sara Sieve for the Gallery Director Award and Covington Catholic’s Jack Gries won the Art Alumna Award, chosen by graduate Sarah Brandt Borne, who works as a graphic designer in Cincinnati.
“I love seeing what everybody else is working on,” Madi said. “It gives me ideas for what I can do next.”
Whatever the future holds, it’s a good bet that art will see Madi through it, bolstered by the confidence that comes with being the toast of the annual high school art show at Thomas More.
“Our show gives tri-state high school students an opportunity to compete in a coveted regional juried exhibition and display their artwork in a professional university gallery,” said Elizabeth Neal, Associate Professor of Studio Arts and gallery director.
The show is free at the Eva G. Farris Gallery and runs during the university’s library hours until November 24th.