Charles City students named Iowa All-State Artists

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

Three students from Charles City High School have been recognized as Iowa All-State Artists.

Addison Tracey, Ava Thompson, and Ally Wedeking were among 10 Charles City students in the AP Art class to submit portfolios for review and were three of the seven Class 2A students to receive the All-State honor.

Each student put together a collection of eight pieces of art, complete with titles, measurements, a description, and an artistic statement.

“Most of my pieces revolve around the theme of growing up and being scared of the future,” said Tracey. “I used dragons and maps to represent that fear, stealing the idea of dragons or monster representing “the unknown” from old map makers who’d drawn them in areas they hadn’t explored.”

“My theme is Emotions and How to Portray Them,” said Wedeking. “Basically all of my pieces express some sort of emotion and feeling; like, joy, depression, isolation, and love.”

Each artist will be honored on stage and see their work featured on display at the Des Moines Arts Festival on June 28-30.

Charles City High School also earned the distinction of being a 2024 Iowa All-State Visual Arts School, with the top five students in the school scoring among the highest of schools across all sizes.

“Considering the size of our school in comparison with others in the state, this is quite an accomplishment,” said AP Art teacher Tia McInroy

Along with Tracey, Thompson, and Wedeking, the scores of Bobbie Soifer and Ellie Gassman contributed to earning Charles City High School its art school distinction.

“All five of these girls work extremely hard both in and out of the art room,” said McInroy. “They are constantly coming up with novel ideas, experimenting with new materials and processes, and are open to feedback from their peers and teachers.”