Ange Long, from left, Victoria Lee and Meredith Martin will be honored on Redstone Arsenal for their winning artwork in the Hispanic Heritage Month program. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Three student artists at Discovery Middle School were contest winners in the Hispanic Heritage Month program.

By entering the contest, these three students “are helping our community celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, to stimulate interest in other cultures and their traditions,” Discovery art teacher Raquel Spiegel said.

Victoria Lee was the first-place entrant, followed by Ange Long in second place and Meredith Martin in third place.

“Victoria Lee, a seventh-grader, painted a beautiful senorita (young Hispanic girl) on canvas with her eyes closed, wearing a pale blue-and-white Folkloric dress,” Spiegel said. Lee’s image has “her hair up in pigtails with a ribbon.”

Lee chose to use a background of crimson. Fiesta banners with ethnic food surround the young girl in the painting.

“Ange Long painted a Spanish dancer in a beautiful Flamingo dress and created a textured background by using sponges to add red, blue and purple colors,” Spiegel said. Long is in eighth grade at Discovery.

Seventh-grader Meredith Martin designed artwork that depicts a Flamingo dancer surrounded by different aspects of the Hispanic culture, including foods, color and designs.

Rosie’s International Services. Inc sponsors the contest.

“We strive to promote diversity and inclusion within the community, and one way we achieve this goal is through Ethnic Observance Programs,” Sgt. 1st Class Jerry K. Nkansah said. Nkansah works as an equal opportunity advisor with the U.S. Army on Redstone Arsenal.

“The portraits we received have further proven that children are putting forth efforts to explore innovative opportunities to express their place within our society,” Nkansah said. He also acknowledged Spiegel’s efforts “to encourage our youth to explore individualism through arts.”

Lee, Long, Martin and Spiegel will be honored at a Hispanic Heritage Month ceremony in the NASA Activities Center on Redstone Arsenal on Oct. 7. “The audience will consist of many soldiers, civilians and family members with a variety of cultural displays, food tasting and dance performances,” Nkansah said.