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Young people from across Hampton Roads shared colorful visions of bold astronauts, interplanetary space travel and roving robots in the 2014 NASA Langley Research Center art contest.

Student artists in grades k-12 from the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Poquoson, Williamsburg and the counties of York, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City and Mathews were invited to submit works on the theme of “The Future is Now.”

“The idea was for young artists to take technologies that once seemed far away and explore how they were becoming reality today,” said Kristina Ruhlman, public outreach specialist for the center.

The grand prize winner was Tabb High School junior Rachel Pike who submitted an image of a space walk titled "The Rainbow Nebula."

First-place winners include Nina May of Rosemont Forest Elementary School in Virginia Beach, Samantha Wilhelm of Coventry Elementary School in Yorktown, Savannah Gizaw of Portsmouth Catholic Regional School, Angela Preisach of Christ the King Catholic School in Norfolk, Veronica Alverez of St. Gregory the Great Catholic School in Virginia Beach, Logan McConnell of Butts Road Intermediate in Chesapeake, Desirea Sievers of Portsmouth Catholic Regional School, Kylie Hunt of St. John the Apostle Catholic School in Virginia Beach, Libby Fickel of St. John the Apostle Catholic School and Jamaica Carby of Phoebus High School in Hampton.

Organizers received 334 entries. They were judged by a five-member panel made up of center professionals and a local schoolteacher. The first-place works will be displayed at the Virginia Air & Space Center.

Art Contest Winners