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GPS graduate’s oil painting hangs in the U.S. Capitol

Phoebe Mills' oil painting "Watercolor Window" placed first in district competition in the Congressional Institute's high school visual art competition and will now hang in the U.S. Capitol for one year. Mills had never painted in oils before, but learned because she thought the scene, first captured in a photo of a friend on a bus, lent itself to oils.
Phoebe Mills' oil painting "Watercolor Window" placed first in district competition in the Congressional Institute's high school visual art competition and will now hang in the U.S. Capitol for one year. Mills had never painted in oils before, but learned because she thought the scene, first captured in a photo of a friend on a bus, lent itself to oils. Phoebe Mills' oil painting "Watercolor Window" placed first in district competition in the Congressional Institute's high school visual art competition and will now hang in the U.S. Capitol for one year. Mills had never painted in oils before, but learned because she thought the scene, first captured in a photo of a friend on a bus, lent itself to oils.

By Yolanda Putman 5 min read

When Phoebe Mills won a citywide essay contest this spring, she figured that would be the standout moment of her senior year at Girls Preparatory School.

Then came news that one of her paintings will hang in the U.S. Capitol.

photo Phoebe Mills graduated with academic honors from Girls Preparatory School this year, as well as a win in a nationwide visual art competition. (Photo from Pamela Hammonds)

Mills was notified in May that she had placed first in district competition in a nationwide high school visual art competition sponsored by the Congressional Institute. This week she will travel to Washington, D.C., to attend the opening reception and award ceremony. Her work, an oil painting titled “Watercolor Window,” will be on view for a year.

Mills had previously entered the contest her sophomore year but had heard nothing back from the organization. So when her art teacher submitted her work again this year, she gave it little thought.

She learned of her win just after leaving the city’s Fair Housing Luncheon, where she had earned a standing ovation after reading her essay on Martin Luther King Jr. She was in the car with her history teacher when she got an email from her art teacher, Julie Deavers, marked, “Exciting news. Please read.”