Helen Farnsworth Mears Art Contest
Since 1927, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs-Wisconsin (GFWC-WI) has sponsored an annual art contest for seventh and eighth-grade students. The purpose is to encourage student artists and promote art within local communities. The contest was named in honor of renowned Oshkosh sculptor Helen Farnsworth Mears.
Each spring, GFWC-WI affiliate clubs conduct local art contests open to public, private, and home-schooled middle schoolers. Students can enter a piece into one of two categories: Two-dimension (painting and drawing), and Three-dimension (sculpture). Entries are also judged in two classes. Class A represents schools with art instructors, while Class B represents schools without them.
The first, second, and third-place winners in each class and category of the local contests advance to the District Contest. District winners then advance to the State Convention, where the top three winners of each class and category are chosen. There is also a special Chairman’s Award selected by the Contest Chair. Each summer, the state-level winning artworks are exhibited at the Oshkosh Public Museum.
Who was Helen Farnsworth Mears?
Helen Farnsworth Mears (1872-1916) was a nationally known sculptor at a time when there were few professional women artists. Talented from a young age, she went on to study in New York and Europe with other noted sculptors. Her most famous works are still on public view: Genius of Wisconsin resides at the state capitol building in Madison, and her sculpture of suffragist Frances Willard is displayed in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. Some of Mears’ sculptures can be seen locally at the Oshkosh Public Museum and Paine Art Center and Gardens. The Art Contest in her name has helped keep her memory and legacy alive.
