Meet PAA’s 2022 Student Award Winner

Madeline van Wijngaarden

Penfield High School senior Madeline van Wijngaarden is PAA’s 2022 Student Award winner.

The daughter of Erika and Edwin van Wijngaarden of Macedon, Madeline will head to Rochester Institute of Technology this fall to study animation.

“I started doing art by printing out Disney princess pages and coloring them,” she says. She loves color and is inspired by folklore and fairy tales as well as nature. She excels in drawing, but she also enjoys using digital technology.

“My favorite pieces usually required some research, and it makes the artistic process even more interesting,” Madeline says. “I love the freedom I have working digitally. I change my mind a lot and I like being able to revise and add elements whenever I want.”

Madeline enjoys traveling and her favorite place to visit is The Netherlands, home of her grandparents and other relatives. “I love the Dutch buildings and countryside and I always find myself wanting to recreate those on paper.”

She hopes to pursue a career in animation or visual effects. “It is my goal to see my work in theaters in the future.”

The PAA Student Award for excellence in visual art is presented to a student selected by the art faculty at Penfield High School. PAA has presented a cash award to a PHS senior each year since 1976.

Works by Madeline van Wijngaarden

"Hiker Girl" by Madeline van Wijngaarden

Hiker Girl is a character Madeline developed for a video game design class. The character has to find her way out of the wilderness. The book contains a health pack and her magical staff is resting behind her on the rock.

"Mushroom Houses" by Madeline van Wijngaarden

Mushroom Houses are part of a set of illustrations done with marker and colored pencil. The first is a mushroom castle deep in the forest and the second image is a mushroom farmhouse.

"Korenmolen" by Madeline van Wijngaarden

“Korenmolen,” a sketch Madeline did in The Netherlands.

"Self Portrait" by Madeline van Wijngaarden

Self portrait, charcoal

"Popples" by Madeline van Wijngaarden

“Popples.” In this colored pencil drawing of her dog, Madeline chose to change his color from black and white to red, orange, and yellow to represent how small dogs have fierce spirits.

"Starbucks" by Madeline van Wijngaarden

This drawing of Starbucks was done in the digital illustration tool Procreate, Madeline explains. “I wanted to do an observational drawing, so I went to Starbucks and sat for about an hour to do the initial sketch, and completed the shading at home. I chose Starbucks as a location because it’s a placemy sister and I like to go to have coffee, and also because I liked the cafe atmosphere. I wanted to challenge myself with the layout as well.”