Celebrating the 2026 ArtEffect Winner

In his Impact Statement, Han describes how the imagery of his artwork celebrates Perkins’ leadership: “In the center is Perkins who lifts a torn American flag. The flag shows a nation hurt and sunken by poverty, exploitation, and instability, but she still lifts the flag. Through this gesture, I wanted to express Perkins’ determination not to let suffering define the future.”

Congratulations once again to the 43 young artists featured in the ARTEFFECT Gallery at MCAAD celebrating the LMC Unsung Heroes!

The competition is open to high school students. All students in grades 9-12 are eligible to participate, including rising high school freshmen (students entering 9th grade in Fall 2026) and students who graduated high school in 2026.

Each ARTEFFECT Ambassador culminates their visual arts online fellowship with a capstone project that brings the inspiring stories of the LMC Unsung Heroes into their classrooms and communities.

Here is an excerpt from Michelle’s Capstone Project report:

“My students learned a lot more about their Unsung Hero’s needing to be able to speak about them, and the process it took to make their artwork, and they are a lot more confident now with what they would do in the future for another project like this.”

Congratulations to Michelle and her students at Scio Middle & High School in Oregon for your fantastic ARTEFFECT projects!