Each spring, the GFWC – Menomonie Woman’s Club invites 7th and 8th grade students from Dunn County schools to participate in the annual Helen Mears Memorial Art Contest. Winners of the 2026 contest are:

Class A (schools with art teachers)

Sculpture
1st Place – Riley Lehman (Menomonie Middle School); 2nd Place – Chase Clark (Boyceville Middle School); 3rd Place – Jacob McWithey (Menomonie Middle School); Honorable Mentions – Rachel Sorensen (Menomonie Middle School); Olive Mau (Menomonie Middle School)

Painting and Drawing
1st Place – Rory Dunbar (Menomonie Middle School); 2nd Place – Brooklyn Nass (Menomonie Middle School); 3rd Place – Raven Naughton (Boyceville Middle School); Honorable Mentions – Brooklyn Fuhrman (Menomonie Middle School) & Genevieve Lofgren (Elk Mound Middle School)

Class B (schools without art teachers)

Sculpture

1st Place – Lydia Bensend (FOCUS Homeschool Co-op); 2nd Place – Isaac Cimino (Summit Christian Academy); 3rd Place – Madelyn Cimino (Summit Christian Academy)

Painting and Drawing
1st Place – Ella Harder (St. Paul’s Lutheran); 2nd Place – Keira Lee (Summit Christian Academy); 3rd Place – Sophia Olson (FOCUS Homeschool Co-op); Honorable Mentions – Madisyn Hestekin (Summit Christian Academy) & Joseph Gowling (St Paul’s Lutheran)

The art contest, which began in 1927, was established to honor Helen Farnsworth Mears, a Wisconsin sculptor, born in Oshkosh in 1872. At the early age of 20, her clay sketch of a woman and winged eagle, entitled “Genius of Wisconsin” was commissioned for the World’s Columbia Exposition of 1893. The completed nine foot marble piece now stands in the Wisconsin State Capitol. In addition to the statue in the state capitol, her work is also on display in the National Statuary Hall and the Smithsonian Institution, both in Washington, D.C. as well as the Metropolitan Museum in NYC.

The Helen Mears Contest is one of the many activities of the Menomonie Woman’s Club. For more information about the club, please visit the Facebook page or contact Linda Rundle, club president, at 715-210-5705 [email protected]

Source: Submitted article