Vinton teen to be honored for photography at Carnegie Hall

VINTON - Next month, Sarah Kreutner will head to Carnegie Hall in New York City, after winning a bundle of honors from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

Kreutner, 17, of Vinton, entered 30 of her photographs into the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards' regional competition, which includes the entire state of Iowa. She walked away with 9 Gold Keys, 9 Silver Keys, 6 Honorable mentions and an American Vision Nomination in art. She also won a Gold Key and 3 Silver Keys for her writing.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is a national competition with 29 categories in art and writing for middle school and high school students. The American Vision Nomination is given to the top five works in each region.

Kreutner subsequently received the Visions Award, equivalent to Best in Show, for one of her photographs. That booked her a ticket to the Big Apple, where she will be recognized on June 2.

'I am very excited. I have never been on a plane before,” Kreutner said. 'Photography is one of my favorite mediums, because it doesn't take as much time as other art forms to present your vision. It is almost immediate right when you click the shutter - there's your vision.”

The photograph that won the Visions Award is a black and white shot of her younger sister entitled, 'Sophia Throws a Leaf at Her Sister.”

'I was just taking pictures of my sister outside, and she got sick of it and said, ‘No more pictures,' and threw leaves at me. I quickly snapped the picture, and it turned into a cool shot,” she said.

Another photo called 'Summer Chores: Tomato Patch” was awarded a National Silver Medal.

Kreutner said her interest in photography started two and a half years ago, with a point-and-shoot camera. She upgraded to a more fancy model after entering her shots into a county fair competition.

'A county fair judge saw the picture I taken, and she said, ‘Are you going to be getting a nicer camera anytime soon? Because you need one,” laughed Kreutner, who also is the reigning Benton County Fair Queen.

In addition to her interest in photography, Kreutner is an active 4H member and summer camp counselor. She and her brother and sister are home-schooled.

Kreutner plans to attend Iowa State University in the fall, tentatively with a double major in art and English.

'I have a terrible time deciding what I want to do ... But I know I want to continue photography in college,” she said. 'I looked into journalism, teaching, advertising, any job with photography would be awesome.”