'A New Chapter'

Even though Macie Werner will graduate from Jackson High School on Friday, a piece of her time there will continue on in the nation's Capitol even after she becomes a college student.

Werner's drawing, titled "A New Chapter," was chosen as Best of Show earlier this month among 100 entries in the 30th annual Eighth Congressional District Art Competition.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith announced the honor at a reception earlier this month, after Werner qualified as a finalist along with eight other students in the district.

Right now, the drawing is on display at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in downtown Cape Girardeau until it makes its 900-mile journey east in coming days.

Once the drawing gets to the Capitol, it will join other winning works of art from around the country.

Macie Werner's mixed-media piece, "A New Chapter," soon will be on display in Washington, D.C.Laura Simon

Werner said the piece was assigned by her art teacher at the beginning of her senior year as a way to get students started with their classwork.

It wasn't something she expected to enter in a competition, but she liked the effect she was able to achieve with strong, jagged lines and a more abstract approach.

"It's a pen-and-ink drawing of a younger-aged girl and she's sitting down writing in a journal," Werner said.

The scene represents the new chapters that open in life every time we learn, and how younger children are always eager to soak up new things.

"I feel like everybody should have that, no matter how old they are," she said.

Right now, Werner and her family are working out the financial aspects of her acceptance to the Kansas City Art Institute, where she said she would like to learn about illustration, although, "I'm not really sure yet," she said.

Werner has been drawing since grade school and said she prefers making art the old-fashioned way, with pens, pencils and brushes, to experimenting with new technologies.

Although her educational goals are still emerging, Werner is certain her future will be planted squarely in some corner of the art world.

"I've always been really good at it," she said.

ljones@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

32 Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.