Artist earns top award in National Contest

The headlines read:

In a father's experience, perfection
Shorewood artist's work earns top award in national contest
By MARY LOUISE SCHUMACHER
mschumacher@journalsentinel.com
Posted: June 23, 2006

<>Whether painting the wrinkled face of a farmer, the long shadows cast by a man shoveling snow or the inquisitive face of his young son, Shorewood artist David Lenz wants to tell the truth through images that are as close to reality as possible..................................The National Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., was to give its top prize to Lenz on Friday night in its first-ever national portrait competition, which attracted more than 4,000 emerging and midcareer artists...................................................The person in Lenz' winning portrait, "Sam and the Perfect World," is his 9-year-old son Sam, who has Down syndrome. In the painting, Sam leans forward quizzically and confidently meets the viewer's gaze. Behind him, beyond a barbed-wire fence that runs low across the frame, a lush valley opens up and a sun stands high with a halo-like ring around it.<<Please Read entire article here>>

What excites me the most about this article [yup, you guessed it....that the winning portrait is of a person with Trisomy21],,,,,and that I love the fact that the title reflects so much to me my feelings of Emma Sage in our life. With her in our life, my world is infact 'perfect'....because she has allowed me to see clearly..........to live freely...........to love deeply..............to care emensly..........to to realize that every single human being on our plant is a gift and that all life needs to be nurtured and cherished.

We have been hoping to head to Washington, D.C. on a trip, and now I will make sure we head there this year and go to the National Gallary to see the portrait of Sam.

Congratulations David Lenz!!!!! and 'Thank You'!!!!!!