Hadley Barker (GHMS) Wins NCAEA General Assembly Youth Art Show Competition

Meet Hadley Barker, an eighth-grade student at Gravelly Hill Middle School (GHMS)! She’s making her mark in the art world – one paint stroke at a time.

Last school year (2024-2025), she made headlines as one of three OCS students scoring high marks in the community-wide Orange County Arts Commission “Paint it Orange Plein Air Paint Out” (https://bit.ly/42y1kAm), taking second place in the Youth Competition Middle School category with “Sarah’s Farm.”

This year, Barker won the North Carolina Art Education Association (NCAEA) General Assembly Youth Art Show competition and will represent OCS and Region 3 with her painting titled “Hidley.”

Guided by GHMS Visual Arts Teacher Amanda Aguayo, Barker submitted her latest award-winner (which she created in seventh grade) to NCAEA. Inspired by and named for her horse, Barker painted herself riding Hidley in an open field, inspired simply by her lifelong love for her animal.

“I’ve always been a huge horse person. I have two horses myself, and I’ve been riding horses since I was four, so they’ve been a huge part of my life,” Barker said.

Aguayo has watched her student “grow exponentially” since joining her art class in sixth grade:

“Hadley has matured tremendously as both a student and an artist. I’m honored to be her art teacher here at Gravelly and extremely proud of this opportunity to exhibit ‘Hidley’ in the General Assembly Legislative Building in the spring,” Aguayo said. “This will not be the last time you hear the name Hadley Barker, I’m sure of it, so get your autograph from her now!”

“Hidley” will be on exhibit at the NCAEA Conference (October 9-12) and featured in the north lobby of the General Assembly Legislative Building in spring 2026.

The emerging artist said, “I’m very thankful that I was picked, because there are lots of good artists out there. It’s very, very much an honor.”