Last weekend at the Illinois High School Art Exhibition at the Zhou B. Art Center, Niles West senior Nicole Nienow won the grand prize for the piece she entered.

The project that won the award is a diorama box called “Escape of the Fox.” She used several materials to make it including paper towels, clay, paint, and hot glue. It also lights up. It took her 30 hours to make it– about a week and a half in total.

She was inspired to create the piece from nature and her love of animals. Nienow said she hoped to convey a whimsical theme from childhood, but the piece also has a realistic, grotesque look that’s appealing to the eye.

As the grand prize winner, Nienow won a trip to New York City with one teacher and one parent. She also received art supplies. In New York she will get to visit the Statue of Liberty and art museums. Her piece will also be featured in an art show in New York City.

Upon receiving the news that she had won the grand prize, Nienow said, “I started to cry when they announced that I had won. I was pretty blown away because there were a lot of art pieces. I was like ‘Oh man, did I just win?’ I don’t know how I won, there were so many great paintings.”

Art teacher John Zilewicz said he was “Ecstatic. It was outstanding,” he said. “I was astounded because out of 500 students she won. We also had a lot of other students win awards at the show.”

The art show is a chance for high school students to have their work exhibited and win prizes for their efforts. It is also a chance for other high school students to gain inspiration from the amazing work done by other high schoolers.