2003 August 7 Sacramento Bee Christina Jewett
City P: G2
Young artist is making her mark

Amanda Limeberger of Land Park does not lead a stereotypical artist's life. She fits art lessons into her Friday night schedule, after soccer or basketball or volleyball practices.

The Christian Brothers High School sophomore was surprised by the first-place award she earned in the 2003 Congressional Art Competition sponsored by Rep. Robert Matsui, D-Sacramento.

Limeberger, 15, flew with her family to Washington, D.C., last month and was honored in the U.S. Capitol for creating an award-winning charcoal drawing still hanging in the halls of Congress.

"I thought, 'Wow, my artwork is being shown to people,' " she said. "That's something new."

The competition invited area high school students to enter work related to an advanced technology theme. Limeberger said she set to work cutting apart a Chevrolet automotive brochure. She arranged engine and elbow and radiator parts and connected them where they seemed to fit.

She recreated her collage on paper with charcoal pencils, connecting the pieces smoothly with shadows and lines. She called it "Parts Missing," and declines to offer a philosophy for her art. It's just a cool image, she said.

"It's very advanced for someone her age," said Michelle Limeberger, Amanda's mother, recounting a compliment she heard another artist pay her daughter's work.

Limeberger began taking art lessons when she was in seventh grade at her grandmother Marlene Bastian's urging.

Her instructor, Jennifer Chilcoat Ghio, teaches art at Laguna Creek High School and gives Amanda art lessons twice each month.

Amanda said her first work was a drawing of a face, which her grandmother entered into the California State Fair. The portrait won first place.

Chilcoat Ghio said Amanda started taking lessons when she was young and worked hard to catch up with older students who were taking lessons. Amanda is serious, Chilcoat Ghio said, which drives success.

"Amanda is a very humble person, which I think adds to the fact that she's done so well," she said. "With that comes a strong dedication and makes her not only a good artist but a good person."

In May, officials from Hemispheres Arts Academy invited Amanda and her family to a reception, where she learned that "Parts Missing" had won the highest honor in California's 5th Congressional District.

She learned that she and her family would fly to Washington, D.C., expenses paid, for a congressional reception. Her work will hang in the Capitol for a year, alongside the renditions of the American flag and Statue of Liberty that were common among other students' work.
She also won a four-year scholarship to Savannah Arts Academy in Georgia. She said she isn't sure whether she will use that scholarship.

"I'm keeping my options open," she said.

But she will continue her art. Now she's painting a pastel image of a barn - with a photo as her guide.

The barn used to stand on her grandparents' property before it was sold and the structure was demolished, she said.

"We'll see how that comes out," she said.