Courtesy photo Shown from left are Austin Bugalski, North Central art teacher Emily Westphal and Meemic agent JJ Johnson-Reeves from Don Johnson Agency. Buglaski was the winner of the annual Meemic Masterpiece Art Contest. He won a Lenovo Chromebook, while Westphal won $300 to purchase art supplies from Office Depot.

POWERS — North Central freshman Austin Bugalski was recently chosen as one of the winners of the annual Meemic Masterpiece Art Contest. He was the only winner chosen from the Upper Peninsula.

Each year, the contest invites K-12th grade students to submit an original piece of artwork using a theme for inspiration. For this year, the themes were “Seasons,” “School Memory” or “Selfie.” Bugalski chose “School Memory.”

The committee of judges chose the top 50 winners from 1,500 entries submitted by students in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. Each winning student artist received a Lenovo Chromebook. The sponsoring Meemic Foundation Club member, in this case Bugalski’s art teacher Emily Westphal, was awarded $300 to use at Office Depot. Westphal plans to use the funds to purchase supplies for her art classes at North Central Junior/High School.

The winning artwork will be professionally framed with a nameplate featuring the student’s name, school name and grade. Bugalski’s piece will be permanently displayed at the headquarters of Meemic Insurance Company in Auburn Hills, Mich. An art gallery open house will take place on June 21 to unveil the display.

This contest was conducted by The Meemic Foundation for the Future of Education, a 501(c)(3) non-profit company started in 1992 by the Meemic Insurance Company. Both companies are focused on serving and giving back to dedicated educational communities.