As the winner of the Congressional Art Competition in Northeast Ohio, rising senior MyTrack® Studio Art student Natasha Rehlender '26 got the experience of a lifetime after completing the 2024-2025 school year.
Along with her mother, Rebecca, Rehlender represented Padua Franciscan High School on an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington D.C., where they saw her art displayed at the U.S. Capitol as part of the Congressional Art Competition. In May, Rehlender was chosen as the Northeast Ohio winner by U.S. Representative Max Miller.
“It was really cool,” Rehlender said of the visit to Washington D.C. “We got there a day early because we just wanted to be settled before the whole congressional event.
“We went to the National Gallery of Art; we went to the National Mall; and we just tried to get all the fun things about DC done on the first day. The next day, we met up with Congressman Max Miller, and we went around with his intern, Sean. He gave us a tour of The Capitol and The Capitol Visitor Center. I saw my art, and then, we went back up to the congressional luncheon, and we had a whole presentation with a speaker, which was really cool.”
It was only fitting that Rehlender took her mother on the trip, as it was her mother that served as the inspiration for the piece.
“I was just sitting down one day watching her cook, and I just kind of snapped a picture because it’s just my mom, it’s just what I always see of her,” Rehlender said. “Ms. Stefanie Cook had an assignment in the class, and I chose that piece to paint and to use xylene transfers along with acrylic paint. It is just my mom. It’s just my vision of her cooking for me, and it’s just something nice.”
From touring the sites in Washington D.C. to seeing her art displayed with others’ work from around the country, Rehlender took in a lot during the experience.
When asked for her favorite part of the experience, Rehlender could not settle on just one moment.
“Everyone keeps on asking me that, but I really can’t pinpoint one,” Rehlender said with a laugh. “It was all just so amazing. I loved seeing the National Gallery of Art just because it was so cool, all the different pieces they had, but I really did like the speaker that they had. He was a curator, and he gave a lot of insight to a career in the arts. It was really interesting.”
Rehlender’s artwork will be on display in the U.S. Capitol for one year, and then, in the Congressman’s office for another year. From there, she will be given the option to reclaim the work or leave it on display.
While Rehlender was unable to call out a specific part of the trip as her favorite, she did experience at least one thing that will carry her in the future: motivation.
Being around other artists and seeing their work proved to be as inspiring as visiting the National Gallery of Art.
“It definitely does,” Rehlender said. “If I’m ever in a slump, I always look at other people’s art, and it just reenergizes me. It gives me new ideas, and it’s just inspirational like you were saying.
“It was kind of crazy just seeing everyone else’s art. There were some amazing pieces up there, just seeing pieces from Guam and things just all together on the wall. It was so interesting seeing the different pieces from the different places.”
Along with drawing motivation for creating art, Rehlender is using the experience in Washington D.C. as inspiration for a potential career.
Coupled with her experiences as a MyTrack® Studio Art student, Rehlender hopes the win in the Congressional Art Competition leads to her working in an “art-related” field.
“I definitely want to do something in the arts,” Rehlender said. “I feel like I wouldn’t really enjoy a job. I was looking into conservation or curation in an art museum, but also, a little bit in art education, depending on what route I take.
“I’m planning on going to Kent State because it’s close, and they have a good art program. I can go different places in it. They have majors in art criticism and history, so I can definitely change my major if I need to.”
