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I drove by the Phoenix Art Museum yesterday wondering when the next Catholic school would have its artwork there on display — view the video highlights from Christ the King and Notre Dame Preparatory’s exhibits last year. Then I read an e-mail from St. Theresa School with a link where I could see one of its student pieces and vote daily (Wed.-Sat. only) for the nationwide student “Artist of the Week.”

Vote daily Wed-Saturday for the nationwide school Artist of the Week.

Now I can view the best of student art daily from across the country. More than 17,000 votes decided last week’s winners. Their judgment looked pretty fair to me. Artist judging is among the following grades:

• prekindergarten-3rd grade
• 4th-6th grade
• 7th-9th grade
• 10th-12th grade

Winning teachers receive a $100 gift card for art supplies and the artists receive a $50 gift card.

The only local nominee this week is eighth-grader “ColbyK3″ from St. Theresa School. It’s the 1,205th piece from the school published since March 4, 2010, according to Artsonia records, the site that displays the art. For a tally of past artwork from other local Catholic schools, read after the jump.

FYI, other Catholic school finalists include:

• “Joe2133,” ninth grade, Gross Catholic High School in Nebraska
• “Andrew3369,” eighth grade,  Immaculate Conception School in Jackson, Missouri. (Look for the Phoenix-like bird)
• “Tripp48,” fifth grade, Christ the King Catholic School in Daphne, Alabama

Art was not among my God-given strengths — coloring, maybe —

but I think the competition needs to include the type of media used to create the piece. It’d go a long way toward accounting for scanned/photographed pieces and judging true talent.

For example, if “Daysean2″ in the 4th-6th category just cut out colored tissue paper and glued the pieces in that pattern, I’d be much less inclined to vote for that piece than if the artist used pastels or rainbow scratch paper. The medium “Berenice17″ — in the same category — used on black paper looks much cleaner and technical.

By the way, according to Artsonia records, where the artwork is published, the other Catholic schools with published artists include:

• 104 pieces from Ss. Simon and Jude since Oct. 4, 2007
• 14 pieces from Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Scottsdale since April 18, 2002
• 1 piece from St. Vincent de Paul since May 14, 2009

If you’re feeling inspired to try some art, the Phoenix Art Museum is having a PhxArtKids Day Oct. 3 from noon until 3 p.m.