Aliyah Boyce and Evelyn Murphy of Kecoughtan High School named local winners of the Young Artists contest through Sister Cities of Hampton, Inc.

Two talented students from Kecoughtan High School, Aliyah Boyce and Evelyn Murphy, have been named the 2025 winners of the Sister Cities of Hampton art contest. Guided by their art teacher, Ashley Brooks, each student was awarded a $250 cash prize. This year’s contest theme, Friendship: The Heartbeat of World Peace, inspired artwork that celebrates global unity and connection.

Aliyah, a ninth grader named her artwork Picnic with Friends. She shared the following, “This piece's meaning is towards friendship and the safe community that is built around it. I wanted to represent the different kinds of races and people there are in this world, and how they can all get along. The process of this piece was fun and taught me new techniques and a new perspective on friendship.”

Evelyn, a senior, titled her piece Yellow Roses. She said, “When given this prompt months ago, the innocence of childhood was what first came to my mind. Through time, children have always been the same. This is also true for places across the globe. But friendship is more than just fun, it’s also about supporting each other. Like figuratively holding an umbrella over someone on their rainy day, or simply making them smile.

I chose Peru and India because I have made friends from those countries. I was already exposed to those countries through them and found this to be an opportunity to share that. A heartbeat is a pulse that goes out into the world. When it’s strong enough, everyone will feel it.

Yellow roses are one of the many flowers that grow in India, but they are also a symbol of friendship. They frame the piece, the sunny color showing the joy through the rain.”

“We’re proud of the accomplishments of Aliyah and Evelyn and excited to see how far their work will go,” shared Ai Choo Ashe, teacher specialist in the HCS visual and performing arts department.

The winning entries have been submitted to Sister Cities International for the national competition. Hampton City Schools has previously had two national first-place winners and three national honorable mention winners. 

Sister Cities International serves as the national membership organization for sister city programs in nearly 500 communities, with relationships in over 2,000 communities in more than 140 countries. They provide members with several programs to support them in promoting citizen diplomacy, peace, and understanding through exchanges that focus on arts and culture, youth and education, business and trade, and community development.

The Young Artists and Authors Showcase (YAAS) is an annual contest that encourages youth worldwide to express the mission of Sister Cities International through original artwork, literature, photography, and music for both original and reinterpreted pieces. Entries are judged on originality, composition, and theme interpretation.