Jasmine Thrasher, left, won fi rst place, while Madison Welch took second. Photos/Special.

U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland congratulates Newnan High School senior Jasmine Thrasher on winning the 2009 3rd Congressional District art competition with her painting “Study of Light.” Another Newnan senior, Madison Welch, finished second with her artwork titled “Frosted Berries.”

 “This is a repeat performance for Newnan High School and art teacher Jodi Hobbs,” Westmoreland said. “Our winner this year, Jasmine, finished second last year behind Ms. Hobbs’ daughter Anna. There’s obviously an excellent program at Newnan, with exemplary teaching and talented, hard-working students.

 “Every year, I’m amazed at the depth of artistic talent that we have in the 3rd District,” Westmoreland continued. “We’re lucky to have a distinguished panel of judges and I don’t envy their task of choosing between so many great works – we had 68 entries overall. But at the end of the day, we could only have one winner and I’m proud of Jasmine for making yet another strong showing and coming away with the blue ribbon.”

 Westmoreland gave special thanks to the judges: Bette Hickman of Newnan (executive director of Global Achievers), Vicki Turner of Fayetteville (director of advertising/marketing for AIS Computers), Mark Lucas of Columbus (Lucas Studios of Art) and Tim Williams of Greystone Power in Douglasville.

 Jasmine’s “Study of Light” will hang in the U.S. Capitol for year, joining a gallery of winners from each congressional district. This summer, Jasmine will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington for the unveiling ceremony courtesy of a generous gift from Georgia EMC. The top three finishers will also receive scholarship offers from the Savannah School of Art and Design and the Atlanta Art Institute. Third place went to Fayette County High School freshman Caleb Brown, for his pencil sketch of football players battling it out on the gridiron.