“Myself.”

That is the title Loveland High School (LHS) Senior Mattingly Poole gave her acrylic self-portrait currently on display in Washington D.C.’s Department of Education Auditorium at the Kennedy Center. Poole was selected as one of this year’s winning artworks to VSA’s Yo Soy…Je Suis…I Am… My Neighborhood art competition. 

“As Matti’s art teacher I recognized the technical and expressive quality of the self- portrait when she painted in Art II class last fall (2013),” said Jennifer Grant, LHS art teacher. “I submitted to the VSA competition and was informed that it was a winning entry to be exhibited in this year’s show.”

VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, was founded more than 35 years ago by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to provide arts and education opportunities for people with disabilities and increase access to the arts for all.

“The Loveland School District provides a continuum of special education programs and services for students with disabilities,” explained Grant. “Mattingly is a student with hearing impairment. She is a student who is enrolled in our special education program and fully participates in the high school art curriculum at Loveland City Schools.”

The exhibition opened Tuesday, Nov. 18.
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