Honorable Mention - High School
Claremore High School Maha Group, Claremore

Starry Night Over Claremore

"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day"
-- Vincent Van Gogh

Inspired by Van Gogh's brilliance, we decided that "Starry Night" should be the basis of our collage. We wanted to capture the celestial essence of our town -- a place where we live, learn, work, play, and pray. Our group has grown up in Claremore, and we desired to portray our hometown's excellence in the Oklahoma Centennial collage.

Van Gogh once said, "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together;" so we began by taking pictures of some of the beautiful houses in Claremore. First, we chose some of the older houses that we feel exemplify the way Claremore stands strong through the years. Later, we photographed some new houses to represent Rogers County that is one of the fastest growing in the state. The variety of homes represents the diversity in our close-knit community.

Next, we composed a scene to represent where we play. Claremore Lake is a nature habitat where we can go to escape the hectic world around us. With tall trees, gorgeous views of the lake, playgrounds, picnic areas, and bridges overlooking the water, it is a great place to get away and let our hearts beat wildly as though we were little kids again.

High on a hill in Claremore sits Rogers State University. We chose this college to represent where we learn. RSU provides many students with the opportunity to continue their education after high school. It is the perfect fit in Claremore because, while it is not very large, it serves the people who attend there with a great amount of individual attention. At RSU, students become family while also receiving a degree; all qualities that our town deems important.

Although we have included a picture of the oldest church in Claremore, our sky truly represents how we pray. Van Gogh once said, "When I have a terrible need of...religion. Then I go out and paint the stars." Our starry night represents the heavens, where our God resides. It is a wondrous sky made up of multiple colors within the darkness. "There is no blue without yellow and without orange," Van Gogh once said, and so we created our heavens with his colors in mind. We also chose to fill our sky with the faces of some well-known people who once walked the streets of our town. Will Rogers is the most famous Oklahoman, Pattie Page was a talented country-western singer, Lynn Riggs wrote Green Grows the Lilacs, and Stuart Roosa was an astronaut. All of these personalities accomplished amazing things in their lifetimes, and it all started with their roots in Claremore. These people show us how to have a passion for our work and endeavors.

"What makes people the world over stand in line for Van Gogh is not that they will see beautiful pictures [but] that in an indefinable way they will come away feeling better human beings. And that is exactly what Van Gogh hoped for."
-- John Russell

We have created our Starry Night collage so people will see not only a beautiful collage, but that they will come away with an understanding and love for Claremore... our town.