Stevie Brooks, “Waves of Despair” (2025 entry)

Jane Brinkley Thumm Memorial Arts Contest

2025 Results

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2025 Jane Brinkley Thumm Memorial Arts Contest.

Jurors

Our sincere thanks to the jurors who reviewed submissions with such care and professional expertise:

Brendan Baylor. Associate Professor of Art (Print Media), Old Dominion University. Interdisciplinary artist whose work explores landscapes as social, historical, and ecological spaces.
Ann Mazzocca Bellecci. Professor of Dance, Christopher Newport University. Choreographer, performer, filmmaker, and scholar.
Staci Katsias. Instructor, Chrysler Museum of Art Perry Glass Studio. Glass artist focused on ecology, conservation, and wholeness.
Jim Newsom. Musician and longtime host with WHRO. Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
Clayton Singleton. Artist and educator (Clayton Singleton Fine Art). Verbal and visual artist; BA in Art and PreK–12 Art Education certification (Virginia Wesleyan University) and M.Ed. (Regent University).
Skip Stiles. Founder & Senior Advisor, Wetlands Watch. Former Wetlands Watch Executive Director with a career spanning national environmental and science policy and community-level adaptation work.
Elizabeth Wiley. Professor Emerita of Theatre, William & Mary. Award-winning audiobook narrator (over two hundred titles).

2025 Winners

Visual Artwork

1st Place: Kyler Blake, The Final Nesting Tide

2nd Place: Eleanor Sword, Intrusive Fortune

3rd Place: Alaina Hedgepeth, Reflection

Performative Art

1st Place: Kylie Smith, How I Love the Beach

Thank you to every student who submitted work that helped Virginia see sea level rise and coastal change through your eyes.

V I S U A L A R T W O R K

First Place: Kyler Blake, The Final Nesting Tide

Second Place: Eleanor Sword, Intrusive Fortune

Third Place: Alaina Hedgepeth, Reflection

P E R F O R M A T I V E A R T

1st Place: Kylie Smith, How I Love the Beach

2025 Submissions

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2025 Jane Brinkley Thumm Memorial Arts Contest!. We’re thrilled by the creativity, care, and time reflected in each submission.

Below you’ll find this year’s entries. Each image is a preview, so please click on any piece to view the full artwork.

William Poland, "The Reflect of the Sky"

William Poland, "A Look from the Dock"

William Poland, "The Dark and the Light"

Evelyn Jones, "Jamestown Shoreline"

Cailyn Gibby, "The Beauty of the Waters"

Seraphina Cotton, "Then There Were Two"

Sadie Pollard, "Litter"

Mercedes Stevens, "Guardians of the Blue"

Mercedes Stevens, "Tiny Friends, Big Importance"

Mason Jones, "Old Shenandoah"

Lily Domozick, "Lighthouse"

Anna Croft, "What the Tide Carries"

Hayden Sprouse, "Flooded Future"

Harper Magee, "Brown Pelican"

Audrey Gage, "Silence Between Drips"

Rae Thompson, "Welcome to Virginia Beach"

Julis Dise, "Golden Hour"

Julis Dise, "Deltaview Dawn"

Catherine Adler, "The Tide is Ticking Away"

Micky Schriever, "A Friendly Hello"

Micky Schriever, "Big Blue"

Lily Domozick, "Coral Reef"

Elyse Moore, "Sea Beauty"

Darius Jones, "Protect Our Tides"

Darius Jones, "Protect Our Tides for Virginia"

Darius Jones, "Virginia Coastlines"

Melody Pilgrim, "Your Trash"

Valentina Arciniegas Gil, "Mollusk"

Henry Broughton IV, "Pelican"

Hailey Grabb, "Stuck with Me"

Hailey Grabb, "Octo-Motion"

Lilly Arndt, "Beauty is Shrinking"

Alaina Hedgepeth, "Reflection"

Lilly Arndt, "Slipping Through My Fingers"

Andrew Pope, "1!"

Andrew Pope, "A Feast for a King"

Sudiksha Chakraborty, "SIlent Swimmer"

Andrew Pope, "The First Visitors"

Luna Dugas, "Earth"

Kyler Blake, "The Final Resting Tide"

Stevie Brooks, "Waves of Despair"

Aniah Kornegay, "Foregone"

Harper Magee, "Pelican Soaring"

Kiley Whitworth, "The Stalker"

Kiley Whitworth, "Remembrance"

Reese McCombs, "By Owl's Creek"

Reagan Fussell, "Sandhill Crane"

Jennifer Doss, "Tangled and Polluted Life"

Eleanor Sword, "Harbor Seal"

Eleanor Sword, "Intrusive Fortune"

Levi Roggero, "A Sandy Rivulet"

Levi Roggero, "A Sundown Sight"

Levi Roggero, "Distant Lights"

Sheloir Johnson, "Caring for the Coast"

Eve Montero, "Shared Waters"

Abigail Craun, "Sally the Crab"

Josephine Cooke, "A World Alone"

Gillian Tang, "King Tide"

Isa Wisotzki, "The Human Price"

Isa Wisotzki, "Seconds to Midnight"

Isa Wisotzki, "Shielding of a Shell"