Herriman High senior and emerging artist, Sadie Henderson, took home one of the biggest awards at the Utah All-State High School Art Show. Her painting, “Emerald Lens,” was chosen by Utah senators to receive the prestigious Senate Award. Along with a $5,000 cash prize, Henderson’s painting will hang at the Utah State Capitol through the next school year.

“Emerald Lens” also won the Lyon Arts Studio Award and the USBE Purchase Award, while Henderson’s painting, “Home of the Heart,” earned her the Utah Watercolor Society Award.

Inspired by Norman Rockwell’s nostalgic paintings, Henderson took a historical approach to her “Emerald Lens” piece, centered around her grandmother’s China cabinet.

“She has all this beautiful green depression glass. I’ve always loved it. It’s my favorite thing,” Henderson said. “My grandma told me stories about the depression glass and how it was a little, small thing that they were trying to do to bolster the economy during the Great Depression…I wanted to connect it with finding hope when there are hard times.”

The Utah All-State High School Art Show is a statewide exhibition that celebrates the talent and creativity of Utah’s young artists. Hosted by the Springville Museum of Art, the show celebrated its 54th year, with more than 100 Utah high schools participating. 

“There’s not really another state that does anything like this, on this kind of scope,” said the museum’s head of exhibitions, Allison Pinegar. “It’s like the state championships for visual arts students. There are always sports championships and different things, but this acts as an opportunity to display their talents and skills on a professional level, to a bigger audience.”

Entries are divided into four categories: painting, drawing, 3D and mixed media, photography and digital. A 12-panel jury went through more than 1,000 entries to select the approximately 300 artworks chosen for the exhibition. 

Pinegar said Henderson’s work stood out due to its technical execution, attention to detail and her acrylic technique that resembles watercolor.

“To have that limited palette and the restraint she used to make it read kind of monotone, and those thin layers of paint that she builds up, is really interesting,” Pinegar said. “What struck the jurors selecting the Senate Award was that level of skill in connection with her artist statement…It was thoughtful and provocative in terms of how she’s thinking about the world and her experiences, and how it might relate to others. Using symbols, items and objects from her childhood to comment on the larger world was really effective.”

Henderson, a South Jordan resident, earned a scholarship to BYU from its Department of Art, where she starts this fall. She will continue pursuing an art career, either doing design work for companies or creating gallery artwork. Henderson wants her art to inspire people to look for things that generate hope.

“Another thing that I focused on in my artwork is that when there were hard times, people tried to do something about it. They didn’t have a wish; they had action,” she said. “I know there's nothing super big like the Great Depression, but everyone has their bad days. But there are always things to be hopeful about.”

“Emerald Lens” won the Senate Award at the Springville Museum of Art Utah All-State High School Art Show. Painted by Herriman High senior Sadie Henderson, it will hang at the Utah State Capitol for the next year. (Photo courtesy Sadie Henderson)