Two New Manchester High School FAME Visual Arts students will have their artworks on display at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival taking place April 11-13 at Piedmont Park in Atlanta.
Amelia Tappler's ceramic work "When Life Gives You Lemons" and Bradley Williamson's painting 
"Procrastination Does Not Equal Productivity" were among 171 top works selected for this year's Atlanta High School Art Exhibit at the Dogwood Festival. The pieces were chosen by a panel of judges from 675 total entries submitted by more than 80 schools.
Lindsey Lavin, Visual Arts Department Chair at NMHS, said Tappler is a successful artist in both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional arts.
“For this piece Amelia was hoping to use Italian influences but with a modern twist,” Lavin said. “Amelia has always been intrigued by the past and wanted this piece to have the same nostalgic feel she gets while exploring various antique stores. This piece is just one of the many larger ceramic pieces she has created throughout her years in the FAME program. She is continuing to further her skills and push herself to create larger, more intricate pieces.”
Tappler added that the piece is made out of clay, underglaze, gold leaf, pliable metal and twine. She made it by creating three sections on the wheel: two bowls and one bottle neck.
“My specific inspiration from this piece is old Italian Majolica pottery,” she said. “It's the type of stuff that you see in an antique store or in your grandmother’s house. That cozy charming feeling I really enjoyed portraying through the ornate designs on the surface. At the time of creating this piece I was really inspired by my grandmother’s house. She has a lot of older paintings and pottery because she’s also a supporter of the arts, and I also really wanted to challenge myself to create a bottle necked form. My favorite part of this piece has to be the neck of it though because it was the most challenging, but it also came out really successfully.”
Williamson’s piece was not a project or assignment but a piece she felt she needed to create, Lavin said.
“She has continued to impress us with her growth in all the different art mediums,” Lavin said, 
adding that Williamson is representing NMHS in the Governor’s Honors Program, is president of the National Honor Society and also has works in the Youth Art Month exhibits.
Williamson said her 24 x 32 inch acrylic represents her “bad habit of procrastination by giving insight into my preoccupied mind.”
“On the left side of the painting I picked objects to represent each of my many hobbies,” she said. “However, on the right, I sit idly on my phone. As a current junior in high school, I have no time to waste. My future is coming fast, and I know this, but I never fail to choose my phone over my priorities.”
In addition to being displayed at the Dogwood Festival, both students’ works will be included in a second round of judging where additional award winners will be chosen, with some selected to be displayed at a minishow at the High Museum of Art.