DALLAS — A fifth-grade student from Greenhill School in Addison beat out some 688 other young artists to win this year’s Best of Show in the Dallas Area Rapid Transit's annual Student Art Contest.

The artist, Collin Chon, used paint to weave images of Dallas’ iconic skyline, DART buses and trains, masked doctors and the distinctive alien-like sphere of the coronavirus into a brightly colored piece that judges said best exemplified this year’s contest theme, “Everyday Heroes Ride DART.”

Chon will receive a prize award of $1,000 and his artwork will decorate the sides of DART buses across the system’s routes for the entire year. Chon’s original painting will be among other winning pieces featured in a rotating art tour starting May 8 at the Dallas Museum of Art. The event will culminate with Chon revealing the first of the DART buses to display his work.

The young artist's work then moves to Dallas Love Field and other venues. For the next year, other winning pieces will decorate DART trains, stations, and transit centers, as well. 

This year’s student art contest, now in its 23rd year, sought to highlight the Dallas-area essential workers and others who were so integral to keeping the community going during the pandemic. Organizers of the contest asked participants to depict “everyday people that have made a positive impact in the lives of others” during the challenging year of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Hundreds of applicants from across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex as well as entries from out-of-state competed for prizes in four different categories from kindergarten to 12th grade. This year saw three international submissions from young artists based in India, a welcome surprise to the competition, according to Gordon Shattles, from DART’s external relations. 

A gallery of more student artwork submitted for the annual contest may be viewed here.

Chon and the other winners of this year’s student art contest will receive their awards in a ceremony held virtually on April 23 at 6:00 p.m.