Lani Chaves of Pittsboro took home the first place title for her striking watercolor painting.
"During the Pandemic, in the beginning when masks were hard to come by, people began sewing masks and giving them away," Chaves wrote. "These masks were strung between two trees and offered for free. As they resembled Buddhist prayer flags. I was moved to paint 'Free Masks Take One' in 9x12 watercolors."
This piece was part of a series of three paintings that Chaves created of the same scene to capture COVID-19 through art.