Sculpture contest finalist

Jeayoung Yoo, a Shadle Park High School senior, is one of 30 finalists from across the United States in the third annual Lucerne The Art of Dairy contest.

If she wins the grand prize, she’ll earn $20,000 for her high school and $5,000 each for her art teacher and herself. What’s unusual about this contest is that the design must be sketched on a cow and must adhere to the theme of the competition: “Cows and History.”

Inspiration struck Yoo as she sat in her advance placement European history class. “We just finished studying the French Revolution,” she said. She recalled learning about Marie Antoinette’s reply when the poor had no bread to eat: “Let them eat cake.”

Yoo quickly sketched her design featuring Marie Antoinette holding a full glass of milk in front of gaunt-faced peasants. Her title: “Let Them Drink Milk.” Shadle art teacher Kathy Pattee sent Yoo’s entry off. What Yoo didn’t realize at the time was that finalists would be required to replicate their sketch on a life-size fiberglass cow.

When Yoo and Pattee realized the size of the canvas they’d be using, they scrambled to find a place for the artist to work. “It was enormous!” said Yoo, who’d never even seen a real cow.

Career technical education teacher Ray Harding came to the rescue. “He offered me a place to work in his woodshop class,” Yoo said. Harding said it took four people to move the fiberglass cow. He estimates the bovine is 8 feet long, 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide.

When Yoo looked her canvas in the eye she was excited by the challenge. “I like the idea of a new experience,” she said with a laugh.

Yoo has been interested in art since she was very young and has had previous experience with an unorthodox canvas. In fact, you might say her artistic career got off to a rocky start. She related one of her earliest memories: “I was about 3. I picked up a rock and drew a rabbit on the neighbor’s car.” Her mother was mortified.

Nowadays she uses the more conventional medium of paper and colored pencils. She said, “When I look at the clean, white paper I think, I’m going to draw something on this.” Her favorite art form is comics and anime. Yoo enjoys seeing a picture she envisioned in her imagination take shape on paper.

But seeing her design come to life on a cow was another thing entirely. The most difficult part of the process was transferring her sketch to the cow. An admitted perfectionist, she said, “I sketched the whole cow in pencil and then erased it and started again.” She laughed, adding, “I went through a lot of erasers.”

She airbrushed background which featured billowing blue clouds and warm sunset tones, and painted all the detail work with acrylic. The result is amazing.

“I’ll be shocked if we don’t win the grand prize,” said Ray Harding.

Yoo’s design features intricate brickwork, Jersey cows on a grassy meadow and, of course, a bejeweled Marie Antoinette holding her glass of milk. Harding said, “The look on the faces of the poor changes as you wrap around the cow.” He said their faces brighten as they receive nutritious milk to drink.

Pattee has been Yoo’s art teacher since the student arrived in Spokane. Pattee said Yoo’s family moved to the United States from South Korea. “She is one of three sisters, who are all talented,” she said. “Yoo has an incredible work ethic. She works at her family’s Chinese restaurant, takes AP classes and has great joy.”

It took Yoo more than 200 after-school hours to finish the project. She credits her family for their help. “My older sister is a student at WSU. She gave up her whole spring break for the cow.” In addition, Yoo’s other sister covered her shifts at the restaurant. Yoo said, “My Dad is so sweet. He delivered Chinese food to me at school, even if I didn’t tell him I was hungry.” And when Yoo’s mother saw firsthand how hard her daughter was working on the cow, she cried.

Yoo plans to attend the Institute of Art in Seattle next year. Pattee said, “Watch for her in the future. I’ll bet we’ll see amazing things from her.”

Jeayoung Yoo’s “Let Them Drink Milk” cow is on display at the Shadle Safeway, 2507 W Wellesley Ave., Spokane, WA 99205.