(Photo courtesy of Mingo Career & Technical Center)

Graphic design students at the Mingo Career & Technical Center complex. Five students placed in two different categories in this state wide poster competition sponsored by the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission, the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and WV State University. The graphic design students won five of the six awards in the competition. One of the judges commented that it took them two days to judge the artwork because of the many outstanding entries. The students placed first, second and third in fine arts division and won first and second in the photography/mixed media category. The award winners in fine arts division were first place Shane Hatfield, second place Travis Singer, third place was Kenny Warrix and the winners in the photography/ mixed media division were first place Nathan Ward, place Brian Ford, An awards luncheon was held in the great hall of the Cultural Center in honor of all the award winners. Governor Joe Manchin and First lady Gale Manchin were in attendance and was the keynote speaker of the event.  Each student received a savings bond and a certificate for their award. Activities include an awards ceremony, an evening gala featuring performances by West Virginia artists. The award winning entries will be published in a book that will be distributed to all the libraries in WV. Governor Manchin was so impressed that he asked if he could display the winning artwork in the Governors office during his inauguration weekend. The winning posters will be on display at the Cultural Center the whole month of January and February.