On March 29, teacher and FCHS Art department chair Michelle Coleman announced the winner of her “M(art)ch Madness” art competition. M(art)ch Madness was a competition based on college basketball’s March Madness. The final two paintings were Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and “The Swing” by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. When the final votes were cast, the winner was “The Swing,” a Rococo oil painting of a young French woman on a swing.

As noted in a previous article on the Beat, Coleman created the competition involving world-recognized pieces of artwork in order to raise recognition for her AP Art History class. She appreciates that “The Swing” beat “Starry Night.”

“I am glad an image that is not as recognizable won. It gives the painting and my course more attention,” said Coleman.

During the competition, which took place March 1 through March 29, there were weekly brackets (done in Google Forms) that allowed students and staff to narrow down 64 artworks. All works of art in the brackets are featured in Coleman’s Advanced Placement Art History class, which debuted this year. Approximately 150 people voted each round.

“Honestly, I wish that ‘Starry Night’ had won, but that’s just because I’m a huge fan of Van Gogh,” said senior Kessler Potter, a student in AP Art History. “However, there were a couple of girls in my class who absolutely love ‘The Swing,’ so I’m glad their favorite won.”

Overall, Coleman was pleased with the competition. “I will definitely be doing this again next year, but I will take more time choosing my match ups because I never knew how popular this would be. There are a few [pieces of artwork] I think would have gotten more attention that I did not include,” she added.

To sign up for AP Art History, contact your school counselor. For more information on the course, reach out to Coleman at [email protected].