Blythe Daley, a ninth grader at The Villages Charter School, won best of show for her portrait of a woman in water.
“My dad used to draw a lot around the house and I picked up on what he did and I really enjoyed it,” Daley said. “I was very happy but I didn’t think I would win because of how small it was and all of the talent in this room is amazing.”
Leesburg High School’s Jawan Townsend received the Jan Smith Scholarship of $500. Smith was an art teacher at Leesburg High School and her family created a scholarship fund in her honor.
And each have stories of their own.
Wilson, 17, is a senior at The Villages Charter School. She recently got back into pageants since being crowned Tiny Miss Leesburg in 2009, hoping to find something to do to impact her community.
“I didn’t want to do a pageant to just sit there and look pretty,” Wilson said. “I wanted something that would give me the opportunity to get out there and help the community. I want to make my mark in my hometown and this was the perfect pageant for that.”
Wilson plans to attend Florida State University in the fall as much of her family, including her dad and brother, have attended there. She hopes to get a business marketing degree and get into real estate.