A half-hour drawing priced at $25 recently won a $150 first prize in an art exhibition at VCU Health. The winner was an 18-year-old daughter of a nurse at VCU Heath Community Memorial Hospital (VCU Health CMH).

"I was so excited when I found out," exclaimed Ishita Christian. "It was my first time winning anything for my artwork."

"Mandela," a pen and ink drawing Ishita submitted, won first place in the teens category. A Mandela is a detailed, circular design with repetitive patterns, symbolic of the universe in eastern religions. Ishita’s drawing takes the shape of a heart with two heads leaning in for a kiss, evoking love and using negative space to add contrast and interest.

The 16th Annual Employee and Family Art Competition is made possible by the National Arts Program and Arts in Healthcare. All works submitted are shown and professionally judged by a panel of local prominent artists, educators and cultural leaders. The National Arts Program is designed to give all artists, at all skill levels, an uninhibited opportunity to exhibit their work in a professional manner and to compete for cash prizes. Arts in Healthcare provides patients and staff an innovative, full-service program in performing arts, fine arts, electronic media arts, folk art and humanities as well as a compassionate, integrative therapies program.

The exhibit is free and open to the public through September 10. It is in the first floor Exhibition Gallery Gateway Building at VCU Medical Center’s downtown Richmond campus.

"We’re so proud of Ishita," said her mother, Asha Christian, a nurse at The Hundley Center, a long-term care facility at VCU Health CMH.

Ishita also enjoys sketching, glass and wall painting and watercolors. "Art is just a hobby for me," she said. "I want to be a registered nurse."

"The Christians are a lovely family who moved here a year ago from India," said Shirley Gibson, DNP, MSHA, RN, FACHE, Interim Vice President of Support Services and Planning for VCU Health. "They love VCU Health CMH and South Hill. It’s great to see you all growing your own."