Budding Artists

2011 Winners Grand Prize Kids & Critters on the Farm Grown in California All in a Day's Work on the Farm Rural Scenic Budding Artists Past Winners 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998

First Place

Marie T. Simmons, 12 years old, Imperial County Farm Bureau member

Riverside sixth-grader Marie Simmons has been learning about agriculture through classroom study—along with regular visits to her grandfather's Imperial Valley property. "I like the farm because it's such a fun place to be and just to explore," she said. She snapped her first-prize photo during one such visit as her father and grandfather inspected the winter spinach crop. "I had a ton of fun that day."

Second Place

Harry Matthiasson, 13 years old, Napa County Farm Bureau member

Photography can be a dirty job. Just ask Harry Matthiasson. "I had to crawl into the creek bed to get the right angle," he said of this view of a harrow, an antique implement once used to prepare the soil for planting. The eighth-grader enjoys exploring the vineyards around his Napa farm. He also helps harvest and sell peaches, plums and nectarines at farmers markets during the summer.