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Virginia students to compete in international art competition in Switzerland

Rebecca Barnabi
airplane
(© Jag_cz – stock.adobe.com)

Virginia students will again represent the United States at the International Aviation Art Competition in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Andrew Yang, Aspen Xing and Lalitha Kuchipudi won top honors in the 2025 U.S. Youth Aviation Art Contest sponsored by the National Aeronautic Association. They were selected from among 140 participants from across the country.

Working on the theme “Women with Wings,” they began their journey in the state competition sponsored by the Virginia Department of Aviation (DOAV). Judges with backgrounds in aviation, art, media and education sent them – and six other students – on to the competition to be judged against young artists from around the nation. The national winners will go onto compete against students from China, France, India, Latvia, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia, Thailand, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Oman and Syria.

Last year, among the winners of the 2024 International Aviation Art contest were Virginians Eric Shen and Iris Xie.

“Every year, I look at the art contest submissions and am amazed at the talent these young people possess. And each year I think that it can’t possibly get any better, but each new competition takes it up a notch! I am both amazed and proud of the artistic talent we have here in Virginia,” said DOAV Director Greg Campbell.

The Virginia Department of Aviation celebrates Andrew Yang, Aspen Xing, Lalitha Kuchipudi and the rest of the national winners of the 2025 Youth Aviation Art Contest.

Results of the competition:

Junior Category (7 – 10 years old)
First Place: Andrew Yang – Great Falls, Virginia
Second Place: Jason Li – Arizona
Third Place: Pranav Vemireddy – Texas

Intermediate Category (11 – 14 years old)
First Place: Sofia Garcia-Vazquez – North Carolina
2nd Place: Aspen Xing – Vienna, Virginia
3rd Place: Lottie – Wyoming

Senior Category (15 – 18 years old)
1st Place: Soyoon Kim – North Carolina
2nd Place: Lalitha Kuchipudi – Chantilly, Virginia
3rd Place: Catherine Park – North Carolina

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca J. Barnabi is the national editor of Augusta Free Press. A graduate of the University of Mary Washington, she began her journalism career at The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star. In 2013, she was awarded first place for feature writing in the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Awards Program, and was honored by the Virginia School Boards Association’s 2019 Media Honor Roll Program for her coverage of Waynesboro Schools. Her background in newspapers includes writing about features, local government, education and the arts.

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