Exceptional originality, creativity and craftsmanship describe qualities of three winning works of art from the DAR Lucretia Council Cochran Chapter of Arlington. The art work has been selected for recognition by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution this summer in Washington D.C. Two of the pieces have been selected as first place winners in the "American Heritage Contest" and will be on display in June at Constitution Hall on the National Mall.

The annual contest has 33 categories from photography, sculpture, painting to musical score and literature. The National Society's objective is to showcase the achievement of its membership in traditional American creative arts. Every year a theme is selected and announced in early summer. Included in the entry process is an essay that explains how the art object expresses the theme, and a collection of photographs recording the steps in the creation of the entry. The 2017-2018 contest theme is "Exploring America through the Arts".

In addition to this honor to individual artists, the Lucretia Council Cochran Chapter has been recognized by Texas DAR for extraordinary achievements during recent years in winning "American Heritage" awards. LCC chapter is one of 2,751 DAR chapters in all 50 states and overseas whose members are qualified to enter the contest. Winning a category is very unlikely due to the extensive competition.

This year's winning entries from the LCC chapter have been created by groups of artists. Twelve fiber artist/genealogists created a 6-foot by 6-foot wall-hanging titled "Into the Forest-Exploring Quilted Possibilities for American Family Trees." The wall-hanging includes 16 unique quilted blocks that illustrate a variety of family trees. Each tree features fabric leaf shapes that are attached at their stems and can be turned to reveal information about family ancestors printed on its reverse sides. Observers are encouraged to touch and interact with the wall-hanging. The artists are: Carole Baron, Francine Copeland, Faye Elder, Cathy Elton, Linda Finley, Jennifer Haskell, Kay Marshall, Sue Mathios, Debbie Panton, Kristine Rumans, Jan Taborsky and Sarah Tunis.

Another first-place winner was created by Peggy Martin and Cindy Fairchild. It is a 24-inch wood-based collage, titled, "Dedicated to the U.S. Sammies." Their work of art is the shape of a five-point star. Peggy and Cyndy, retired history teachers, chose to honor the 100th anniversary of World War I by creating a collage of their collections of World War I memorabilia and ephemera.

The third entry won 2nd place in the dollmaking category and will not be displayed in Washington D.C. Because of the limited gallery space at Constitution Hall, only 1st place winners will be displayed this summer. Kristina Rumans and Debbie Panton created a cloth doll with a paper clay head. Their entry was titled, "Within the Grasp of a Child: Honoring the Heroism of Sacagawea, Native American Explorer."