Don't Mess with Texas® Art Contest Winners Announced

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Keep Texas Beautiful announced the 13 winners of this year's Don’t Mess with Texas® Elementary School Art Contest.

Students from 6,460 elementary school located in 154 Texas communities showed off their artistic talent by submitting entries.

The winning entries will appear in the 2017 Don’t Mess with Texas^® Calendar.

Students selected to have their artwork featured in the calendar include:

• Kindergartner Mihika Gupta of McCoy Elementary in Carrollton, whose artwork will be featured as the calendar cover.
• Kindergartner Sofia Haynes of Eleanor Kolitz Hebrew Language Academy in San Antonio.
• First-grader Avery Nisbet of Windsor Park Elementary in Corpus Christi.
• First-grader Jacob Esquilin of Windsor Park Elementary in Corpus Christi.
• Second-grader Eric Zhang of Roosevelt Alexander Elementary in Katy.
• Second-grader Syrus Gupta of Greenhill School in Addison.
• Third-grader Jaycee Esters of North Zulch Elementary/Secondary in North Zulch.
• Third-grader Sophia Young of Armstrong Elementary in Dallas. 
• Fourth-grader Adam Roth of White Rock Montessori in Dallas.
• Fourth-grader Brandy Quiroga of PFC Mario Ybarra Elementary in Weslaco.
• Fourth-grader Kristin Madison of Hillcrest Elementary in Nederland.
• Fifth-grader Fernanda Nuñez-Flores of Pattison Elementary in Katy.
• Fifth-grader Hannah Choi of Dallas Arts Studio in Dallas.

Contest rules asked students to submit artwork that promoted the Don’t Mess with Texas ^® or Keep Texas Beautiful litter prevention slogans, and the artwork was judged on creativity and uniqueness, inclusion of litter prevention message, overall visual appeal, composition and age appropriateness.

Twelve of the winning designs will be assigned to a month and placed in the 2017 Don’t mess with Texas^® Calendar. Kindergartner Gupta’s artwork was chosen from among the 13 winning entries to be featured on the calendar cover. Each winner will receive an iDeaUSA 8 tablet donated by H-E-B and Central Market.

“We’re always so inspired by the creativity of the students who submit their artwork,” said Joan Henderson, Travel Information Director at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). “We’re proud that this contest motivates young Texans to think about litter and the importance of keeping our state beautiful, and we’re honored to highlight the talent of all of our winners in our 2017 calendar.”

The contest is a joint effort by and Keep Texas Beautiful to motivate young Texans to not litter and to encourage others to keep Texas roadways and the environment free from trash. The contest also consisted of Texas elementary schools students enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade. It was sponsored by H-E-B and Central Market.   

“It’s such a pleasure to see the talent demonstrated by some of our state’s youngest artists,” said Suzanne Kho, executive director of Keep Texas Beautiful. “It wasn’t easy narrowing the entries down to just 13 winning designs, but we’re excited to share the winning art with all Texans to remind them to put litter where it belongs—in a trash can.”

All student winners will be showcased on the Don’t mess with Texas^® and Keep Texas Beautiful websites. Teachers representing students who produce the top thirteen designs will win a $100 H-E-B and Central Market gift card.

More information is available at www.DontMesswithTexas.org. Also, follow the links, http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/education/art-contest/, or go to https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0nkt8413m4ma232/AABFqBoBjRsvkQOIDQuyBLV5a?dl=0, to view winning artwork submissions.