The Guy Harvey Academy at Anna Maria Elementary recently teamed up with Beall’s Florida and the iconic wildlife artist himself to showcase students’ flair for art and spotlight the purpose of the barrier island school within a school.
Content winners Jane Bailey and Silas Whitehead, both fifth graders, had their under-the-sea art featured on insulated travel tumblers from the Guy Harvey line. A portion of sales are funneled back to Anna Maria Elementary.
“We appreciate the Guy Harvey Foundation and Beall’s stores coming together to include our students in an art coloring contest which featured the artwork of two students on a stainless steel cup which was sold at the Beall’s Guy Harvey signing event,” said Michael Masiello, principal of Anna Maria Elementary.
Bailey, 10, didn’t expect to win the coloring contest, but said she did her best on her design.
“I was so excited when my teacher said I won, I couldn't believe it,” she said. “My teacher came up to me and said ‘Do you remember that Guy Harvey art contest? You won!’ and I texted my mom on the way home to tell her.”
Whitehead and Bailey each received a $100 gift card to Beall’s and a private meet and greet with Harvey.
This special competition and event highlights the relationship between the Guy Harvey apparel line, a for-profit business known for signature apparel, and the Guy Harvey Foundation, a non-profit ocean conservation organization partially funded through the sales of Guy Harvey apparel.
Through a partnership between Manatee County Schools and the Guy Harvey Foundation, the Guy Harvey Academy was launched in 2022 to increase awareness of coastal conservation for young students and open career pathways with a special curriculum of science and art.
Catherine Hicks is a reporter for the Community News Collaborative. She can be reached at chicks@cncfl.org.
