Superior Heights student to receive provincial award for her art

Jisun Lee - a Grade 11 Superior Heights Collegiate student - will be travelling to Toronto in March to be officially recognized for her artwork.

Lee won the top award in the Visual Arts and Media category in the annual Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation Marion Drysdale Awards Contest.

Drysdale was a secretary at OSSTF's provincial office for over 20 years and recognized for her dedication and commitment to public education.

The annual competition aims to encourage the intellectual development of students and an interest in society.

Lee - a student in Superior Heights teacher Helen-Mary Carter’s Grade 10 Visual Arts class - demonstrated her own interest in society. One of her works of art reflects this year’s awards theme of "I am everything they say I am not."      

Lee’s award winning piece - done in watercolours, pencil crayon and markers - depicts a polar bear surrounded by pollution, an urban landscape and smokestack industries in the distance.

“I drew a picture of a polar bear losing its home and family because of trash,” Lee told SooToday.

“I tried to capture the emotions of the polar bear. The polar bear is saying that people in the world say that it doesn’t matter if one or two polar bears are dying. They keep throwing trash at its home without thinking about it much. The environment is polluted and polar bears continue to die. The art shows that in the future there will only be one polar bear left in the world.”

“The polar bear says now I’m the only polar bear left in the world but they say I am not. They are trying to tell me that and they’re still throwing away trash in the environment.”

“Through the work I wanted the world to know that we should be more aware of the environment, of pollution problems, and face the problems after realizing the seriousness of it,” Lee said.

Lee worked on the piece for eight hours without a break after finishing the original thumbnail sketch.

Carter encouraged Lee to enter this year’s Marion Drysdale Awards Contest.

“I decided to enter the competition because I thought it would be a good and meaningful opportunity to exert influence,” Lee said.

“She was so thoughtful in the way she did this. The polar bear is being bullied. The polar bear only wants to survive,” Carter said.

“I’m so proud of her.”

“She goes deep. Some people just do the quickest thing that can be done but she spent eight hours working on this piece. That shows me her commitment and her going deep with the intelligence of this, taking it to another level. Art is not just about painting a pretty picture to put on the wall. This also tells an environmental story. More people need to realize what goes into a piece of art,” Carter said.

Lee, in turn, had words of praise for her supporters.

“She taught me essential basic skills and perspectives," she said of Carter.

"As she highly rated my paintings I became more confident and passionate about painting."

“My mom also gives me great feedback and advice. Because of that I’ve gained strength and improved myself.”

“I really like painting because it captures a moment in a wonderful way. The harder I worked and put my heart into this piece, the more intense this one scene shines,” Lee said.

Lee - who moved to Canada from South Korea two years ago - has always been passionate about art.

While living in South Korea she formed and led an art club that decided to make drawings and sell them to raise funds for charity.

She raised funds to help Korean women who were forced into brothels run by the Japanese military during the Second World War.

She will be flying to Toronto for the awards celebration on March 11 with Carter and her father.

The celebration will be attended by 800 other teachers, parents and 11 other Ontario students who won awards in the Visual Arts and Media and Prose and Poetry categories.

Lee was one of only two provincial Visual Arts winners. 

She will receive a prize of $1,000.

“It's so well deserved on her part,” Carter said.

“She’s earned this. She’s a perfectionist in what she does. She’s got an excellent work ethic. It takes discipline to become an artist and she has that discipline.”

Lee said that after high school she wants to study at Toronto’s Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD.

“I like to send a message through art,” Lee said, adding she is looking forward to building her portfolio.