By dreaming through art, Dexter High School junior Morgan Kraft was able to create a winning piece of artwork.

Kraft recently won the high school category for the Michigan Art Education Association Youth Art Month flag/banner contest.

DHS Art Teacher Krickett Chamberlain said the Youth Art Month flag/banner contest is held in each state around the country through their state’s Art Education Association. She said teachers who are current members of their Education Association can enter student work at all grade levels fitting each year’s theme, this year was “Dream in Art.”

For Kraft, it was an exciting honor, but it’s also one she didn’t really expect.

“It honestly feels really strange to have been selected, I had figured that nothing would come of my art being submitted so for it to have actually been chosen is a bit crazy,” she told the Sun Times News (STN). “Since the theme was dream through art I took inspiration from how kids think they see things in the dark, and yet as soon as the light touches it they disappear. However I think that most of my inspiration really came from Holy Spirit because there is no way I came up with the design in of myself.”

Chamberlain said they do this contest as an assignment every fall for the Advanced Drawing and Painting students; hoping to get them some Art contest exposure and a possible win for College/Job applications. The winning student and teacher also get a box of art supplies.

The Grand Prize winner and their winning flag will be printed into a 3 foot by 5 foot flag which will get hung at the National Art Education Association Spring Conference this year being held in Minneapolis. Then there is a High School winner, a Middle School winner and an Elementary winner.

This year in Michigan the Grand Prize winner was from Almont High School while the High School winner was Kraft, Middle School winner was from St. Thomas Parish School and Elementary winner was from Byron Center Christian School

Of Kraft’s winning artwork, Chamberlain said, “I think that Morgan’s style of coloring and execution with the colored pencils is very ethereal and adds to the theme of ‘Dream in Art’ very well. Her soft coloring and color choices are very dream-like.”

In speaking of her winning work, Kraft said, “I thought of the lighthouse as revealing the true nature of things, no sea dragons, no creepy crows mysterious fog and showing the beauty that is there. I felt like a lighthouse by the sea, or in this case a lake, represented Michigan pretty well which was something I really wanted to do without overwhelming it with Michigan symbolism.”

STN asked her what she loves about art.

“What I love about art is that I’m able to make things that make people happy, I mainly do art to make gifts for people and I love being able to take the time to make something specifically for them that I know they’ll love,” she answered. “It also helps me to express myself and find a way to relax and make things look pretty.”