Belchertown High School senior wins 2025 Congressional Art Competition
'I feel like a lot of times people feel like that art is just something you're born with being good at,' said Kaia Couture, a Belchertown High School student.
For Couture, art became her favorite hobby as a child. Now she's a senior at Belchertown High School with a platform to show off her work. Her prized possession is a painted piece of marbles that came from an art class project.
'It was like a value study with gouache and they had to pay attention to you know lights and darks values,' said Elizabeth Teixeira, Art Teacher at Belchertown High School.
Without any doubt, her art teacher knew Couture's piece would fit perfectly as a submission for the contest.
Couture spent 2 to 3 weeks working on her artwork for the 2025 congressional art competition.
In front of family, friends, and faculty, Congressman Richard Neal announced that she was the winner of the tough competition judged by museum officials and photographers.
'Literally for the first tens of thousands of applicants, and so for the First Congressional District to be honoring Kaia today indicates the keen sense of competition, the achievement. America will have a chance to witness as the work hangs in the candid building underneath the exit entrance ramp of the Capitol,' said U.S. Congressman Richard E. Neal.
Couture's piece will be an inspiration to others at a year-long exhibit in Washington, D.C.
'I think it represents the district, just by I mean the teachers in this classroom, the art that's being produced in this classroom. We're constantly having kids join these classes, even if it's just for an elective, they're being put in these art classes, and they're being allowed to create all this great art,' said Couture.
Couture will also be flown out to Washington, D.C., to see her work on display at the United States Capitol.
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