CREDIT: LEAH PROBST
Fanshawe alumna Leah Probst, won first place in the drawing category for her piece Embrace, at the Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) Art Showcase.

Leah Probst, an alumna of Fanshawe's fine arts program, was awarded first place in the drawing category of the Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) Art Showcase.

According to the CICan website, the showcase had more than 120 submissions, with voting taking place online.

The results of the vote were announced at CICan's annual conference in Ottawa with winners from five different categories being chosen.

Along with having her work, titled Embrace, hang alongside other winner's piece on the CICan office walls in Ottawa, Probst received a $300 cash prize, the website said.

Leah Jurkovic, director of communications and stakeholder engagement of CICan, said that the contest works in promoting all forms of art and creativity from fine arts students of CICan's affiliated colleges.

“We think that it's very important to invest in the arts, to showcase fantastic art, to support students who are studying arts. The different categories include sculpture and textiles, mixed media and also digital. So, it's not just sort of traditional art domains, but also things like digital art and animation. I think what we want to do with that is show that we appreciate creative endeavors of all kinds and that we really want to invest in our students who are doing that kind of art in all different areas,” Jurkovic said.

A few members of Fanshawe College's art department expressed their excitement about Probst's win, on the showcase and how it can help fine arts students broaden their horizons.

“I think it's really great that they're having an art contest,” Dana Morningstar, the chair of Fanshawe's School of Design said. “Out of all the subjects CICan could have, it's terrific that they have the art contest. What can it offer students? I think it gives students confidence to apply to a contest like that and take their best work and submit it to be adjudicated and I think those that win get to have the opportunity of putting that on their resume and saying ‘you know my work was selected and hangs there for the year', in a national competition. That's very valuable to somebody,” Morningstar said.

Marla Botterill, a professor of Fanshawe's fine arts department, was Probst's teacher at the time she drew Embrace. She praised Probst's confidence to enter the contest and encouraged other students to do the same for future career opportunities.

“It takes a certain amount of confidence to enter your work, to be judged. I think that should be acknowledged too, that it takes a certain amount of confidence to put yourself out there and I encourage all students who create things to put themselves out there and try to get recognized,” Botterill said.

The artist herself, Leah Probst had some thoughts about the showcase.

“If you are planning on being an artist as your career, getting your name out there, marketing yourself, and showcasing your work is half the job. You can be a fabulous artist, but if no one sees it how do you expect to make success? The CICan Art Showcase is an easy step in getting that much further to being a successful artist, giving you the career experience in order to become more familiar with showcasing your art and becoming more involved in the art community,” Probst said.

Probst explained that her drawing, Embrace, was inspired by a photo taken by her brother and that she chose to draw it due to its “composition, lighting and contrast”, as well as that “it was very expressive”.

The piece was done for her first year final project, the idea of which “was to create a narrative art piece with the media requirements open ended”, Probst said.

She said she thought the image she chose “would make for a wonderful open ended narrative piece”, because it would leave “the narrative up to the viewer”.

Probst had reasons for entering Embrace into the showcase.

“I found it represented the qualities of pastel drawing, the beautiful way it can blend, the textures you can create, and the rich pigments. I find soft pastel drawing is sometimes overlooked and it needs to be brought into the eyes of art lovers to show its beautiful drawing abilities,” Probst said.

Probst also had nothing but positive words to share about the showcase as a whole.

“I just want to thank everyone a part of the CICan Art Showcase. This annual competition is an amazing opportunity for college fine arts students, giving us the chance for the world to see our art and to become a part of the art community. Congratulations to all of the other winners,” Probst said.

Along with being in Ottawa, Embrace and the other winners' pieces can be seen on CICan's website at collegesinstitutes.ca/2017-artshowcase.