SIKESTON TEEN SELECTED FOR ART ACADEMY

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Seth Lyon, 16, was recently selected to attend the Missouri Fine Arts Academy June 17-July 7 at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield.

He is the son of Steve and Marlene Lyon.

Funded by the Missouri Legislature for Missouri students, about 220 students who are currently sophomores or juniors were selected to attend from the areas of visual art, music, dance and theater.

"Seth is very conscientious and takes his work seriously," said art teacher Darla Jackson. "I believe that Seth's talent is in realistic drawing, from figures to portraits. However, he has also been experimenting with oil paint in doing some landscape painting and I can see that he is a quick learner. I knew of his desire to some day work in the art field so I believed this experience would be a great benefit to him."

The academy is administered by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in cooperation with officials of Southwest Missouri State University.

Along with an application, Lyon was required to write an essay, send a portfolio of his work, a reference letter from a community member and a teacher recommendation.

"Art has been an interest to me for as long as I can remember," Lyon said. "One of my favorite subjects is drawing facial expressions of people. I would like to include art in my career and I am seriously considering it in my future," said Lyon.