Ariana's Prize

On a warm spring day at Yale University, Ariana Preston was fighting for her life. Well, okay, maybe that’s a bit melodramatic. What was really going on was that she was entering an art competition to get her classical sculpture of the Roman god Neptune into the Yale University Art Gallery. Every art student on campus seemed to be running, including her long-time competitor, Sophie Rutter.

Ariana’s relationship with Sophie was contentious at the worst of times and motivating at the best. Since freshman year, she and Sophie seemed to always be neck and neck in classes, competitions, and even campus social status. The two were constantly being compared to each other by professors and peers alike, and they both hated it.

And today was no exception. Ariana paled when she saw that her sculpture, which had taken her months, looked uncomfortably similar to Sophie’s Roman-inspired male figure standing before her.

They had done it again; they had copied each other without even realizing it.

At least, Ariana thought so. She certainly had no idea what art piece Sophie was going to submit to the contest, and she hadn’t noticed Sophie snooping around her dorm room, where all of Ariana’s hard work took place.

No matter if an artistic crime had been committed or not, Ariana knew that there definitely wasn’t enough time for either of them to create a second piece. She needed to turn in her sculpture for the contest by the time the entry closed, which happened to be within the next 30 minutes.

So, Ariana did the only thing left to do. She walked up to the person taking inventory of the contestants’ art pieces while silently cursing the 300-pound granite sculpture and rickety, school-issued buggy that was slowing her down.

The TA behind the clipboard was none other than Ramona Smith, a grad-school art student whom Ariana vaguely knew from her current art history course and slightly off-putting, animated disposition.

“Wonderful work, Ariana!” Ramona chirped out in her usual, overly enthusiastic manner, “You’re all set! You can come back here next Friday to see the winners and runners-up of the contest.”

Despite the cheerful interaction with Ramona, Ariana felt dejected. Why did Sophie have to create an art piece that was so similar to hers? How many other Roman-style statues were also in that line-up that she had failed to see due to her anxious tunnel vision? When starting the piece, Ariana knew that her vision was a bit cliché and had been done thousands of times before, but she believed it would be the best way to showcase her classical style and artistic prowess. After all, her Greek-style statue, inspired by the goddess Athena, is half of the reason why she got into Yale’s art program in the first place.

Slinking back to her dorm room, already suspecting the worst, Ariana made a plan to hide in her bed for the rest of the day. She wondered why she had even entered the competition. She might as well have admitted her defeat and bowed out of the race before it started.

Ariana opened her dorm room door with her head down. The walk home did nothing to calm her nerves or make her feel better. In fact, it seemed to only make her feel worse. She hoped that she wouldn’t run into her roommate and friend, Nora, in the room.

But alas, she was sitting at her desk, hard at work on an essay. Nothing seemed to be going Ariana’s way that day.

And Nora’s concerned face when she looked at Ariana made everything worse.

“Hey Ariana, are you okay?” Nora inquires innocently over her laptop screen, “Did something happen when you were entering the contest?”

Ariana considered not replying and diving under the covers on her bed five feet away, but she stopped short when she noticed the genuine concern on her friend’s face. “Not really. I just noticed that Sophie’s sculpture looks really close to mine. Same style and pose. It’s almost like she copied my work on purpose. And now it’s the same old story. Whose work is better, Ariana’s or Sophie’s?”

Ariana stopped, shocked at the rapid-fire confession that just came flying out of her mouth. Nora’s shocked expression didn’t help the situation.

After a few tentative moments, Nora cautiously expressed her thoughts. “I mean…it was a pretty common pose and style. I’m sure many people submitted similar projects. Did you see any of the work other artists submitted?”

With a huge sigh, Ariana admitted, “No, I haven’t,” and collapsed onto her desk chair.

“Well, there you go!” Nora said, smiling, “And I know the competition between you and Sophie can be annoying, but I don’t think she’s a cheater.” Nora paused and scratched her chin as she contemplated to herself, “And I don’t know how she would find out about your art piece anyway. She’s never been to our dorm room, and neither of us has mutual friends with her.”

Admitting defeat in this argument, Ariana sighed, “I know. Sophie is a good person. And a great artist. Sometimes I just get frustrated and jealous when people favor her over me. Especially when it’s professors and contest judges.”

“But you know that you’re an incredible artist,” Nora responds. “There are times when I wonder if you’re more worried about proving that to yourself or the people around you.”

Ariana was perplexed by this notion, and she quickly realized that she wasn’t sure who she was trying to impress or what she was trying to prove. While it was true that she would love to have her work presented in the Yale University Art Gallery, she didn’t have a clear answer to why that was the case. Why was she so driven to compete and win against her peers, and why Sophie specifically?

At her core, Ariana already knew that she was a good artist, even if that humble side of her didn’t want to admit it out loud. She had gotten into the art program at Yale, her art had won awards, and she already had an internship at one of New York’s most prestigious art galleries lined up. She wanted to win the contest not to prove this fact to herself, but to her peers. Even though this isn’t necessarily a bad sentiment to have, a bit of healthy competition is healthy in any field. However, it does mean that she was straying from her personal values.

When beginning her artistic studies, Ariana wanted to focus on self-expression when refining her craft. She swiftly understood that in her competition for “the better artist,” Ariana began making artistic choices that she believed she could exhibit better than Sadie could, or worse, ones she thought would appease the people around her. But this isn’t the point of art. It’s supposed to be a free outlet for artistic expression. If you create a piece from your own creative vision, you win regardless of whether you get the number one spot in a contest, because you’ve made something beautiful that you can be proud of. There are no real winners or losers if you stay true to yourself and your craft.

As this realization dawned on her, Ariana was struck with a sudden sense of determination. She grabbed her jacket and immediately started looking for her car keys.

“Where are you going?” Nora asked.

“I’m heading out to the art supplies store. I think I’m going to make a sculpture out of clay this time,” Ariana replied, suddenly out of breath. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Wait! For the contest?” Nora challenged. “That’s closed now, Ariana, and even if they were willing to give you an extension, I doubt you’d have enough time to make something that you’re truly happy with. Anyway, the sculpture you submitted was stunning.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Nora. This sculpture isn’t for the contest,” Ariana countered. “It’s for me.”