Plainfield Central High School senior Kristina Knowski won a $20,000 scholarship to attend the Academy of Art in Chicago.

Knowski, 18, was accepted to the Academy of Art earlier this year, but she had to “audition” — by demonstrating her artistic abilities — to receive the full-year scholarship.

On Sept. 29, Knowski and about 150 other students from across the Midwest attended the Academy of Art in Chicago. They had to complete two sessions for the scholarship competition.

The first assignment was a still life. The students could use any medium to replicate various objects in a three-hour period. Knowski used watercolor for the first session. The second three-hour session tested figure drawing. The students had to use charcoal to draw a model.

Judges from the Academy of Art then rated the 300 works of art and chose Knowski as the only full-year scholarship recipient. She learned about the scholarship through a letter.

Knowski was home sick the day the letter came in the mail, but felt much better upon opening it.

“I opened it and saw my name listed as a scholarship winner. I didn’t know the order, and I didn’t know what I had won because I was already celebrating with my mom,” Knowski said. “My mom was in tears.”

Knowski’s art teacher Laura Racich said she knows Knowski is “pretty amazing.”

Racich has had Knowski as a student for three years.

“I have been teaching here for almost 20 years and have had so many talented students and I am very proud of the consistency of success, but Kristina is a rare student who is tremendously focused and talented,” Racich said.

“Every project in every media that she has been exposed to, she has taken to a level of excellence that has rarely been surpassed,” Racich said.

Knowski will attend the Academy of Art in the fall.

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